John Abbott, the Liberal MHA for St. John’s East-Quidi Vidi, is resigning from his seat to resolve a lawsuit over the controverted 2021 provincial election in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The slow-paced lawsuit, which is now four years old, began after the province’s 2021 “pandemic election,” when former Newfoundland and Labrador NDP leader Alison Coffin — who lost to Abbott by just 53 votes — alleged issues during the election — including about special ballots — resulted in her right to vote being denied.
Coffin, along with PC candidates Jim Lester and Sheila Fitzgerald, had been calling for a new byelection in their respective districts ever since.
Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Abbott said he made the decision to resign to avoid the matter going to trial — which, he said, could have brought forward more than 100 witnesses and was scheduled to begin on Monday.
“We determined that in the interest of public interest, in terms of cost, time, futility, potentially of a court trial, that I would vacate my seat,” he said.
Abbott also shared that he would not be seeking re-election in the next general election, which has to happen by Oct. 14.
The other plaintiff in the case was Whymarrh Whitby, a St. John’s man who claims he never received a ballot for the election and wasn’t able to vote.
Liberal John Abbott will represent St. John’s-Quidi Vidi East until the end of the summer. His resignation comes as part of a settlement to resolve a lawsuit over the troubled 2021 provincial election. Former NDP leader Alison Coffin, who lost to Abbott by 53 votes, agreed to withdraw the controverted elections application.
In a news release sent Wednesday afternoon, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer said the parties had reached a “full and final resolution.”
“Elections Newfoundland and Labrador acknowledges that there were errors in the administration of some special ballots in the general election in St. John’s East-Quidi Vidi as a result of the unprecedented actions taken to conduct the election amidst the pandemic and its associated public health restrictions,” reads the statement.
The statement said all parties agreed that Whitby was “inadvertently disenfranchised” in the election and should have had the opportunity to vote in his district.
“We are here today for Whymarrh Whitby, and every other single individual who did not get a chance to vote, or who thought that there was something that went horribly wrong in the 2021 general election in Newfoundland and Labrador,” Coffin told a group of supporters on Wednesday afternoon.
“I am certain that we will head into this next general election with a new vision for how general elections should be run, with a much, much stronger eye and scrutiny.”
Whitby joined Coffin at the podium, saying that acknowledgement from Elections N.L. — that his right to vote was denied — was important.
“It feels good. It feels really good,” he said. “I was denied my right to vote. So having that knowledge, that feels huge.”
Whitby also commented on how long and drawn out the process felt, and hopes there’s a more streamlined way to handle future processes.
When asked if Abbott’s decision not to seek re-election would inform Coffin’s future political career, she said that’s a conversation she’d have to have with friends and family.
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