Latest news with #AlisonCoffin
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘A win for democracy,' boasts Alison Coffin as court case over 2021 provincial election concludes
Former NDP leader Alison Coffin alleged she was denied the right to vote in the 2021 election, along with other irregularities. A court case of four years was concluded on Wednesday with a resolution agreed upon by all parties — which saw Liberal MHA John Abbott, who won the race against Coffin, resign.
CBC
2 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
Here's why Liberal MHA John Abbott says he's resigning
Liberal John Abbott will represent St. John's-Quidi Vidi East until the end of the summer. His resignation comes as part of a settlement to resolve a lawsuit over the troubled 2021 provincial election. Former NDP leader Alison Coffin, who lost to Abbott by 53 votes, agreed to withdraw the controverted elections application.
CBC
2 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
Liberal MHA John Abbott resigning to resolve lawsuit from troubled 2021 election
John Abbott, the Liberal MHA for St. John's East-Quidi Vidi, is resigning from his seat to resolve a lawsuit over the controverted 2021 provincial election in Newfoundland and Labrador. The slow-paced lawsuit, which is now four years old, began after the province's 2021 "pandemic election," when former Newfoundland and Labrador NDP leader Alison Coffin — who lost to Abbott by just 53 votes — alleged issues during the election — including about special ballots — resulted in her right to vote being denied. Coffin, along with PC candidates Jim Lester and Sheila Fitzgerald, had been calling for a new byelection in their respective districts ever since. Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Abbott said he made the decision to resign to avoid the matter going to trial — which, he said, could have brought forward more than 100 witnesses and was scheduled to begin on Monday. "We determined that in the interest of public interest, in terms of cost, time, futility, potentially of a court trial, that I would vacate my seat," he said. Abbott also shared that he would not be seeking re-election in the next general election, which has to happen by Oct. 14. The other plaintiff in the case was Whymarrh Whitby, a St. John's man who claims he never received a ballot for the election and wasn't able to vote. WATCH | John Abbott says he didn't want to have to bring forward 140 potential witnesses: Here's why Liberal MHA John Abbott says he's resigning 19 minutes ago Duration 0:52 Liberal John Abbott will represent St. John's-Quidi Vidi East until the end of the summer. His resignation comes as part of a settlement to resolve a lawsuit over the troubled 2021 provincial election. Former NDP leader Alison Coffin, who lost to Abbott by 53 votes, agreed to withdraw the controverted elections application. In a news release sent Wednesday afternoon, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer said the parties had reached a "full and final resolution." "Elections Newfoundland and Labrador acknowledges that there were errors in the administration of some special ballots in the general election in St. John's East-Quidi Vidi as a result of the unprecedented actions taken to conduct the election amidst the pandemic and its associated public health restrictions," reads the statement. The statement said all parties agreed that Whitby was "inadvertently disenfranchised" in the election and should have had the opportunity to vote in his district. "We are here today for Whymarrh Whitby, and every other single individual who did not get a chance to vote, or who thought that there was something that went horribly wrong in the 2021 general election in Newfoundland and Labrador," Coffin told a group of supporters on Wednesday afternoon. "I am certain that we will head into this next general election with a new vision for how general elections should be run, with a much, much stronger eye and scrutiny."
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
2021 N.L. elections challenge still hasn't gone to trial, as new campaign looms
Former NDP leader Alison Coffin said enough evidence has been gathered to prove the 2021 provincial election was controverted. (Mark Quinn/CBC) 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. Jim Lester lost the district of Mount Pearl North by 109 votes to Liberal Lucy Stoyles in the 2021 provincial election. He is running again in 2025. (Mark Quinn/CBC) 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. Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.
