Newfoundland and Labrador’s 2021 pandemic election will finally be tried in court

ST. JOHN’S – A man who says his right to vote was denied in Newfoundland and Labrador’s 2021 election will finally have his day in court.

In a decision released today, the provincial Supreme Court ordered a trial to begin in June in Whymarrh Whitby’s legal challenge of the province’s pandemic-delayed election four years ago.

Whitby’s suit asks for the election results in his district to be overturned, and he said in an interview that the prospect of a trial gives him hope that justice will be served.

The St. John’s man filed the lawsuit soon after the March 2021 election that yielded a Liberal majority, alleging officials failed to run a vote that was fair, impartial and in compliance with provincial law.

Whitby says he never received a ballot after a COVID-19 outbreak prompted election officials to cancel all in-person voting and shift to a mail-in vote.

Lawyers for former chief electoral officer Bruce Chaulk, a defendant in the suit, argued unsuccessfully that Whitby’s challenge was moot because another provincial election is expected this year.

Whitby was registered to vote in the St. John’s East-Quidi Vidi district, where former provincial NDP leader Alison Coffin, a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit, lost her seat by 53 votes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 2, 2025.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.