N.W.T. extends period to apply for mail-in ballot as byelection process stumbles

The N.W.T.'s first election by mail-in ballot only has run into a hurdle.

According to an internal directive from the territory's chief electoral officer, 10 per cent of the 130 ballot packages received as of Friday in the Tu Nedh-Wiilideh byelection lack a required signature on the Absentee Ballot Certificate.

Unsigned certificates cannot be counted on election day. Another 15 per cent of ballots received so far contain other errors, but those errors, according to the memo, can be excused.

The directive orders Elections NWT staff to contact voters who submit ballot packages with major errors before next Friday, and to offer the opportunity to correct the errors. According to the memo, voters can contact Elections NWT by phone to confirm "whether their absentee ballot certificate has any major errors."

The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot has also been extended. According to the directive, the period to apply for an absentee, or mail-in, ballot has been extended until Feb. 4. Prior to this directive, the deadline to apply for an absentee ballot package would have been Saturdayat noon.

The ballots will be counted when polling closes Feb. 8.

"We know there are eligible voters who have not registered, or for whom we have no address, and as people register we have been mailing out packages that same day," Stephen Dunbar, the territory's chief electoral officer, wrote in an email to candidates, agents and election officers.

Dunbar said the new directive "is to try and anticipate any of the challenges that come up and try to address them beforehand."

"One of the reasons I laid out how we'll certify these ballots is because I didn't want to be doing that on Feb. 9 and for that to come as a surprise to anyone," he said in a phone call.

The Tu Nedh-Wiilideh byelection was triggered after former MLA Steve Norn lost his seat in the Legislative Assembly. It is the first time the Northwest Territories has held an election by mail-in ballot only. The decision was made in light of the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 across the territory.