Former NDP Leader and MHA Alison Coffin has suffered a setback in her efforts to have the results of the last provincial election thrown out.
Coffin and a representative voter sued Elections NL, in the wake of the 2021 election, which was marred by numerous events, not the least of which was the pandemic.
Poll workers quit and in-person voting was cancelled, followed by three extensions to vote by mail.
But some couldn’t get ballots or were unable to vote by mail, with Coffin, who lost her seat by 53 votes, believing many were in that boat—leading to the lawsuit.
(Bruce Chaulk File Photo)
There was also the spectacle of Elections NL CEO Bruce Chaulk personally delivering ballots to MHAs Ches Crosbie and Siobhan Coady, and confusion over whether people could vote by phone.
The trial itself is set to finally start in February, but a report on the effects of the mail-in ballot on people with disabilities won’t be a part of it.
Lawyers for Chaulk and Elections NL opposed the report, and the court sided with them, saying it was “unnecessary” and came from a person not qualified as an expert.
