Elections Nova Scotia

Northside-Westmount By-election – How Votes Cast Prior to the Close of Nominations will be Counted    

  

Media Release: August 21, 2019
 

Elections Nova Scotia – Elections Nova Scotia (ENS) has outlined how they will count votes in the current Northside-Westmount by-election that were cast for Danny Laffin and the Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia (PC) prior to the close of nominations on Wednesday, August 14th, and prior to the PC party revoking their endorsement of Mr. Laffin.

The Elections Act directs ENS to offer voting by the 27th day prior to election day. Voting in the current by-election in the electoral district of Northside-Westmount began at the returning office on August 7, 2019. At that time Danny Laffin was registered as the PC candidate for Northside-Westmount. Before nominations closed at 2 pm on August 14th, the PC party withdrew their endorsement of Mr. Laffin and endorsed another PC candidate, Murray Ryan. Danny Laffin now contests this by-election as an independent candidate.

Write-in ballots are used for early voting prior to the close of nominations. There were 135 write-in ballots cast in Northside-Westmount when Danny Laffin was registered as the PC candidate. The write-in ballot format provides voters the opportunity to mark the registered party they wish to vote for or to print a specific candidate’s name, or both.

The write-in ballots cast prior to the close of nominations in Northside-Westmount have been segregated and will remain sealed until they are counted after the close of polls on election night, Tuesday, September 3, 2019. At that time, ENS will count those ballots marked for Danny Laffin, the PC party or both as follows:

A ballot that only is marked for the PC party name will be counted towards the PC candidate, Murray Ryan.

A ballot that only includes Danny Laffin’s name as a candidate will be counted towards Mr. Laffin.

A ballot that includes both Danny Laffin’s name as a candidate and is marked for the PC party will be counted towards Mr. Laffin.

Those who voted prior to the close of nominations in Northside-Westmount will not be permitted to recast their vote.

ENS faced similar situations during the 2017 provincial general election (PGE). Following the 2017 PGE, the Chief Electoral Officer, Richard Temporale, in his report to the Legislature made the following recommendations for legislative change regarding voting before the close of nominations:

Voting commence at 4:00 pm, two hours after nominations close on Day 20 so that voters may be made fully aware of all nominated candidates contesting the election in their home electoral district; and

any elector who cannot attend a poll after nominations close on Day 20, apply and be pre-approved to be sent a write-in ballot kit on Day 19 along with a list of the candidates contesting the election in their district.

The process for counting these votes have been shared with the registered parties and candidates in the electoral district of Northside-Westmount.

Currently, there are by-elections underway in three electoral districts – Argyle-Barrington, Northside-Westmount, and Sydney River-Mira-Louisbourg. Election day is Tuesday, September 3, 2019. Watch for updates on these by-elections at electionsnovascotia.ca, on Twitter @electionsns and our Facebook page facebook.com/electionsnovascotia.

 

 

Contact:        Naomi Shelton 
                    Director, Policy and Communications 
                    Elections Nova Scotia 
                    902-424-3275 or 902-223-4871

                    naomi.shelton@novascotia.ca