N.B. Chief Electoral Officer says masks to be mandatory at election polls but not enforced

Appearing before the standing committee on Procedures, Privileges and Legislative Officers, New Brunswick’s Chief Electoral Officer says no voters will be turned away from a polling station for refusing to wear a mask.

“Because voting is the most basic and important right any citizen in a democracy has, I don’t feel I have the authority, nor would it be appropriate to turn any elector away from voting because they aren’t wearing a mask,” Kim Poffenroth said.

Poffenroth spent two and a half hours taking questions from MLAs about how a pandemic election might work, along with the added costs the province might incur.

One of those costs is associated with mask use, which will be required for electors entering the polls and provided if they didn’t bring one themselves. Poll workers will also have to use either masks or face shields along with gloves for the duration of their shift.

So far, Poffenroth says Elections New Brunswick has spent $1 million in preparation for an election this fall. Now it is up to premier Blaine Higgs to decide what form that election will take.

Two by-elections must be held in Shediac Bay-Dieppe and St. Croix before Oct. 15, but the premier has openly mused about the possibility of calling a general election.

Poffenroth said that the by-elections would give Elections NB a chance to test out its pandemic protocols on a smaller scale, which would allow tweaking before a general election, but she said there is no reason the protocols couldn’t be scaled up for 49 ridings instead of two.

There are also a couple of pilot projects that cannot be rolled out during a general election that Elections New Brunswick is hoping to test, including telephone voting for vulnerable populations and those who cannot leave their homes.

New technology to reduce the repetitive paperwork handled by poll workers would also be tested during the by-elections.

The new machines would strike electors off on a provincial lists and automatically populate forms with elector information, which would cut down on some of the paperwork mistakes laid bare during the court challenge of the results in Saint John Harbour after the 2018 election.

Moncton Centre MLA and Liberal campaign co-chair Robert McKee says Poffenroth’s appearance before committee today drilled home his belief that a general election should be avoided.

“It’s irresponsible, unnecessary and reckless to hold an election at this time during a pandemic. We’re still going through the pandemic, we still have the state of emergency and nothing I heard today changes my opinion on that,” he said.

Part of that belief is based on the fact Poffenroth has no legislative authority to delay or cancel an election. Once the writ is dropped, her role is to carry out the election.

The decision to cancel or postpone lies solely with the Legislature.

But Poffenroth did express confidence in Elections NB’s ability to hold an election safely. The operational plan prepared by staff has been looked at by public health and includes protocols for sanitizing and additional staff to help keep the lines flowing smoothly.

Minister of Environment and Local Government Jeff Carr said he would like to avoid an election, but should one happen his chief concern is to ensure Poffenroth is confident to do it safely.

“I think we have to, at any rate, no matter when it is, make sure Kim Poffenroth is completely confident that she can hold an election safely and I think New Brunswickers need to be reassured that they can go to the polls safely,” he said.

Green MLA Kevin Arseneau expressed concerns with how the rules around campaigning would be governed. Elections NB would have no say in how a pandemic election campaign would play out, with rules likely needing to be set out by the province’s emergency order.

“That state of emergency order is decided by government. So we have to think about that,” Arseneau said.

But Arseneau was quick to say he doesn’t think an election should happen at all.

“Sincerely I don’t think it’s the time. It will be the time eventually but it’s not right now. The second wave is coming — it’s not fearmongering, it’s coming.”

1:47 Higgs won’t rule out general election as by-elections loom