Outbreak tied to variant delays N.L. election
‘Everything is a mess,’ says first-time candidate
The last day of an election campaign is typically packed with high-energy, high-visibility events to rustle up a few final votes.
But Rhonda Simms, a firsttime candidate in Newfoundland and Labrador’s provincial election, was spending the day at home, staring at a screen. “I never thought in a million years that everything would be so unorganized and confusing and unsafe,” she said in an interview Friday.
“Everything is a mess.”
Voters and candidates learned Thursday voting in Saturday’s election would be delayed in 18 of the province’s 40 ridings because of a COVID-19 outbreak hitting the Avalon Peninsula, home to the provincial capital and more than half the population of Newfoundland and Labrador.
On Friday, a day before the other 22 ridings were set to head to the polls, confusion remained and the party leaders were largely absent from view, apart from an appearance by Liberal Leader and Premier Andrew Furey at a public health briefing on the outbreak. Late Friday, Newfoundland and Labrador’s chief electoral officer called off all voting set for Saturday because of the province’s COVID-19 outbreak.
Bruce Chaulk said voting in the provincial election will now be exclusively by mail, and ballots must be received by March 1. His announcement came shortly after health officials announced they’d confirmed the U.K. variant was behind the COVID-19 outbreak that hit the St. John’s region this week.
Meanwhile, Progressive Conservative candidate Damian Follett, who is running in the St. John’s riding of Mount Scio, confirmed Friday he’d been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Simms, for her part, suspended her in-person campaign Friday when she found out someone who had visited her campaign office had recently tested positive for the disease.
Noting that chief medical officer of health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald has said the outbreak would likely spread beyond the St. John’s region, Simms said earlier in the day that delaying the election in the rest of the province is the only safe and fair thing to do.
“This past week ... we have had three major snowstorms,” she said.
“Because of that, there are people in this community that I fear have not gone to get tested.” The closest spot they could get swabbed for COVID-19 is more than 45 minutes away, she added.
During a virtual news conference Thursday evening, Furey said his caretaker government, which by convention exercises limited power, will remain in place until the election can be fully held.
As for Simms, she tried to reach out to her constituents virtually on Friday while hoping they wouldn’t have to vote the next day. “This is not the right time for an election,” she said, adding: “Someone has to step up to the plate and make that decision.”