N.L. voters granted extension on applications for mail-in ballots

ST. JOHN’S, N. L.—Newfoundland and Labrador’s chief electoral officer granted residents more time to participate in the province’s all mail-in general election on Sunday amid calls from some party leaders for more transparency around the process.

Voters now have until Friday to submit their applications for mail-in ballots, Bruce Chaulk said a statement in which he moved the date back from Monday’s original deadline. The date to turn in completed voting kits has also been pushed back to March 5.

Chaulk said he was putting the extensions in place “to ensure everyone has an opportunity to exercise their right to vote.”

The wholesale switch to mailin ballots became necessary after Chaulk cancelled in-person voting on Friday in response to a sudden COVID-19 outbreak in the St. John’s area.

Some of the province’s political leaders, however, argue Chaulk still has more work to do to make the election possible. Progressive Conservative Leader Ches Crosbie released a statement Sunday asking the electoral officer to “halt his national media tour and take the time to speak to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and the political parties taking part in the general elections.”

NDP leader Kyle Rees expressed concerns about voters in remote areas of the province, as well as those without internet access and those struggling with the Elections NL website.

“It doesn’t take much to dissuade somebody from voting,” Rees said. “Each of these things just represents another barrier that would dissuade people from voting.”

Elections NL has received more than 40,000 special ballot applications to date.