The 2021 Newfoundland and Labrador general election will be held in 2021 to elect members of the 50th General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Under the province’s fixed election date law, the vote was tentatively scheduled for October 10, 2023, but a caveat in the law mandates that an election must be held within one year of a new Premier assuming office. Premier Furey assumed the role on August 19, 2020, and requested to Lieutenant Governor Judy Foote to issue the writs of election on January 15, 2021.
However, an unexpected COVID-19 surge in the week leading up to the election caused voting to be delayed in the Avalon Peninsula, before all in-person voting was eventually canceled, delaying the election for every district until March 1, 2021. On February 14, it was announced that the March 1 deadline was being pushed to March 5. On February 19, the March 5 deadline was pushed to March 12. The chief electoral officer Bruce Chaulk confirmed the validity of postal voting and extended it for this new deadline. The election will be the first mail-in-only election in Canada. On March 9 the mail-in deadline was again extended to March 25, 2021.
Sources and further reading:
Breaking down ballot-counting: Why it could be April before we know N.L.’s election results
Furey steadfast in defence of Newfoundland and Labrador election timing and his attendance at COVID-19 briefings