Most New Brunswickers head to the polls on Monday, but the results of the municipal, district education council and regional health authority elections will not be known for another couple of weeks.
Election day in the Edmundston-Madawaska region was postponed until May 25 due to previous pandemic-related lockdowns in the region.
Because of the delay, results for the entire province will not be released until after the polls close in northwestern New Brunswick that evening.
Elections New Brunswick has said this is necessary because of the option for an elector from one part of the province to cast their ballot at another returning office if they are away from the place where they would normally vote.
But what will happen to the thousands of ballots cast elsewhere in the province when polls close at 8 p.m. Monday?
Kim Poffenroth, the province’s chief electoral officer, said the close-down procedure that staff follow will be “very similar” to previous municipal elections.
Candidates and scrutineers will still have the option to observe that ballots at their polling locations have gone through the tabulation machines, she said.
“Instead of those ballots being closed and results tapes being printed, the machines will be shut down and then ballots will be put into a ballot transfer box and sealed the same as they always are,” Poffenroth said in a phone interview.
From there, Poffenroth said the tabulation machines and ballots will be taken to an alarmed facility in Fredericton, where they will be kept under 24-hour video surveillance.
She said election officers will start processing the machines at 9 a.m. on May 25 and the process will be livestreamed online for all New Brunswickers to watch.
“The integrity commissioner for New Brunswick is also going to be overseeing the process to give that extra level of security and transparency to the process,” said Poffenroth.
The results will not be released until the polls in northwestern New Brunswick close at 8 p.m., but the tabulation machines being processed throughout the day, Poffenroth said those results should be released as soon as the polls close.
