Newfoundland and Labrador cancels in-person voting for Saturday’s provincial election

Newfoundland and Labrador election officials have cancelled in-person voting for Saturday’s vote in response to an alarming rise in coronavirus cases in the province.

Elections Newfoundland and Labrador said Friday evening that the provincial election will now shift entirely to mail-in voting, with ballots being accepted until March 1.

Voters have until Monday to apply for voting packages, according to a statement from the chief electoral officer.

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Election officials had already postponed the vote for 18 of the province’s 40 districts due to the spread of COVID-19, mainly due to a loss of election workers unwilling to work amid fears of exposure.

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The decision came shortly after health officials moved the entire province back into Alert Level 5, the highest level under Newfoundland and Labrador’s pandemic plan.

Over 200 new cases of COVID-19 have been detected over the past three days, including 100 on Thursday alone — by far the highest daily count since the pandemic began. The cases are largely centred around the greater St. John’s metro area.

Chief medical health officer Dr. Janice Fitzgerald said Friday that the B.1.1.7. variant of the virus, which was first discovered in the United Kingdom, is behind the sudden spike in infections.

The variant is more infectious than the initial strain of COVID-19 that has killed four people in Newfoundland and Labrador since early 2020, though it is not believed to be more deadly.

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