2021 N.L. elections challenge still hasn't gone to trial, as new campaign looms

After nearly four years and many hours spent sifting through gigabytes of data, three former Newfoundland and Labrador politicians are still waiting for their day in court to challenge what they say was a botched 2021 provincial election. 

"We need to make sure people have the right to vote and that voting is done properly," said Alison Coffin, the former N.L. NDP leader who lost her St. John's East-Quidi Vidi seat in that election to Liberal John Abbott by 53 votes.

Coffin, along with former Mount Pearl North PC MHA Jim Lester who lost his seat by 109 votes, and former PC candidate Sheila Fitzgerald who lost in the district of St. Barbe-L'Anse aux Meadows by 216 votes, launched a controverted elections application in April 2021, and hope a judge will set trial dates on Monday.

"There were people in my district and throughout the province that, their right to vote and democracy was compromised because of their inability or barriers to them accessing ballots and exercising that right," Lester told CBC News.

Voter turnout for the 2021 election was low — only 48 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot in the 10-week election, which saw a bumpy last-minute shift to mail-in voting due to a COVID-19 outbreak. 

The three candidates allege some voters never received a voting kit and others voted in the wrong district. They also claim some voters received a special ballot without proving their identity or even asking for one.

Bruce Chaulk, the former CEO of Elections N.L., has denied allegations of irregularities during the 2021 election.

John Samms, the lawyer for John Abbott, has argued that even if there were irregularities, they wouldn't have changed the results of the election because they would have affected all candidates.

Coffin said it took nearly four years to comb through the data and interview witnesses to build the case. The trio are asking the court for a two-week trial. 

"We are talking about phone logs. We are talking about the record-keeping of Elections Newfoundland and Labrador of who applied for a ballot, what type of ballot they applied for, did they vote in person and all of the background information, lots and lots of emails back and forth," she said.

After the last election, Premier Andrew Furey, who announced his resignation on Tuesday, promised to reform the Elections Act to avoid a repeat of the chaotic 2021 campaign. 

With only a few months to go before the next election, opposition MHAs say they doubt the Liberals will be able to keep their promise. A so-called "all-party" committee on electoral reform, announced in April 2021, has met only once. Opposition members refused to join or have since left the committee. When pressed on the government's commitment to reforming the act in an interview in November, Justice Minister Bernie Davis refused to promise any changes would be implemented in time for the next campaign.

"Even if legislation is changed today, the time [need] to implement that is not there," Lester said.

Both Lester and Coffin hope to have their case heard before the looming provincial election, and say they have reached the point where they believe they can win their case. 

"We have the evidence to support that, and we think we can justify that there was a controverted election," Coffin said.

If the three had won their seats in 2021, the Liberals would have formed a minority government instead of its current majority.

"That would have dramatically changed the debate, the legislation that's passed, the types of money that's being spent. It really changes just the nature of politics in Newfoundland and Labrador," Coffin said. 

If they win the case, Coffin, Lester and Fitzgerald want byelections held in their districts.

In the meantime, Lester plans on seeking re-election in the 2025 general election in his former riding of Mount Pearl North. 

Coffin wouldn't say whether she intends to run again or not.

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