Some mail-in ballots sent out too late to be counted in N.B. election

New Brunswick's chief electoral officer hastold a House of Commons committee she knew some mail-in ballots were sent out too late for them to be returned in time to be counted in September's provincial election.

Kim Poffenroth made the statement Tuesday when answering a question about the length of elections. In New Brunswick, the snap election was held28 days after it was called, not enough time, she said, to deal with the increased demandfor mail-in ballots because of COVID-19.

She didn't have a number, but said Elections New Brunswick knew some mail-in ballots reached voters too late.

"We know they arrived too late for people to get them back in time," she told the committee on procedure and House affairs.

Poffenrothsaid getting the ballot requests, processing them, sending out the ballotsand getting them back in a 28-day period proved challenging.

"Ido know and the only word I can come up with is unfortunate, which I think is an understatement when it come to one's franchise the importance of the vote."

Exactly how many mail-in ballots were received during the election isn't yet known because they were counted with thespecial ballots sent to long-term care homes.

Poffenrothestimated there were 13,000 mail-in ballots,but they include7,000 sent to long-term care homes.

"In the interest offull disclosure it's not a precise number because ourmail-in ballots, when they're counted, are counted with all other special voting opportunities."

Poffenrothtold the committee the numbers camefrom returning officers going through their records and they aren't exact.

Poffenrothand Prince Edward Islandelectoral officer Tim Garrityboth appeared before the committeevia Zoom to answerquestions aboutholding elections during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The committee is holding hearings and meetings about the conduct of a federal election during the pandemic. Questions ranged from how many extra staff had to be hired, additional costs, advanced polls, and voting by special ballots.

New Brunswick was the first province in Canada to hold a provincialelection during the pandemic.

Prince Edward Island has aprovincial byelection Nov. 2.

Previously,Poffenrothhas saidchanges are needed to make mail-in ballots easier to manage. The increase in requests was substantial with returning offices reporting they had received hundreds.

She had said legislation for mail-in balloting was based on traditional use, and the system wasn't designed to handle the increased volume this time.

"So that's something we'll have to look at for future elections, as to what legislative changes will be required,"Poffenrothsaid at the time.