‘Typical’ voter turnout and a few narrow wins in municipal byelections

Local government byelections in New Brunswick concluded Tuesday, with an average voter turnout of about 19 per cent.

Kim Poffenroth, New Brunswick’s chief electoral officer, said voter turnout was “typical” for the small byelections. 

“It’s a very, in some cases, a very concentrated, localized election,” she said. “And that, I think, makes it difficult for there to be interest generated, if there’s just a very small group.”

Fredericton Junction is the only municipality that needed a mayor, and R. Len Falconer was elected to fill that spot, according to the Elections N.B. website.

In other municipalities, the following candidates were voted into local government roles:

• Danielle Andrée Dugas, Beaurivage councillor at large.
• Roger Doiron, Beaurivage Ward 6 councillor.
• Shawn Patterson, Grand Lake Ward 4 councillor.
• Candice Lee Dekleva, Hanwell councillor at large.
• David Holt, Hanwell Ward 4 councillor.
• Michael Comeau, Neguac councillor at large.
• Stephen Gouzoules, Riverview councillor at large.
• Paul Legace, Southern Victoria Ward 2 councillor.
• Larry Delong, Sunbury-York South Ward 1 councillor.
• Gary Jones and Shelly Nowlan, Tracy councillors at large.

Close call

The closest vote was in Beaurivage for the Ward 6 councillor position. Doiron was voted in with 137 votes, with his competitor Dianne Comeau receiving 136 votes. The small margin doesn’t necessarily trigger an automatic recount.

Poffenroth said the term automatic recount is “a little bit of a misnomer” in New Brunswick.

She said if the difference between the winner and the runner-up is 25 votes or less, a recount will be automatically granted if the candidate requests one.

However, it needs to be requested and won’t automatically happen.

Results in Tracy and Hanwell Ward 4 also fell within the 25-vote margin, said Poffenroth, so returning officers will be reaching out to the runners-up to see if they want a recount.

Voter turnout varied across province

Poffenroth said the average voter turnout in these byelections doesn’t give a good sense of individual voter turnout for each contest, since it varied in each region.

The contest with the highest turnout was Grand Lake, with 54 per cent, and the lowest turnout was in Sunbury-York South, with slightly more than eight per cent.

Poffenroth said for cases with higher turnout, such as Grand Lake, it’s hard to say what generated the greater interest. Perhaps, she said, there was a local issue that was important to the community or some candidates campaigned more.

She said other factors might include the newness of some municipalities and a lack of awareness the elections were happening — whether because of lack of signs, less media coverage or not a lot of financing compared to provincial politics. 

• More candidates needed for municipal byelections in N.B.

In some municipalities, individuals who didn’t have opponents were elected by acclamation, meaning voters didn’t have to go to the polls. Those acclaimed are:

• Argentine Robichaud, Beaurivage Ward 2.
• Susan Ballantyne and Wayne Sturgeon, Grand Manan councillors at large.
• Chris Bringloe, Hanwell Ward 5 councillor.
• Wendy Wellwood, Upper Miramichi Ward 1 councillor.
• Darrell McKeil, Upper Miramichi Ward 3 councillor.

One municipality, Campobello Island, did not receive any candidates for its vacant position. Poffenroth said this means it will just go back on the list for the next round of municipal byelections.

She said these are held on average every six months to fill vacancies.

This story was originally published in CBC News on Oct. 24, 2023.