Coronavirus: COVID-19 variant derails Newfoundland and Labrador election

The Newfoundland and Labrador provincial election was derailed Friday, just a day before voters were set to head to the polls to vote for the next government.

Health officials warned the recent surge of new cases was due to the spread of the COVID-19 variant first detected in the U.K. and prompted the province's top doctor to put the entire province into its highest coronavirus alert lockdown. As a result, the chief electoral officer decided to call off all in-person voting and switch to mail-in ballots only, postponing the deadline for votes to be received to March 1.

Premier Andrew Furey called the snap election last month, despite concerns over COVID-19, in an effort to get a stronger mandate from the public just months after he was elected leader of the provincial Liberal Party and premier in August 2020. The province's election law did not require an election until 2023, however one must take place within one year of a new premier taking officer. Ross Lord reports.

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