Zone 4 to have elections May 25, results from other regions to be reported that day

Residents of the Edmundstonhealth region will head to the polls on May 25, the same day Elections New Brunswicksays it will reveal the results of municipal elections to be held earlier in other parts of the province.

As the Zone 4 region movesfrom the lockdown to the orange phase of COVID-19 restrictions as of Wednesday, elections will go ahead in the Edmundston and Upper Madawaska areas.

Results for the entire province willbe reported Tuesday, May 25, after the Zone 4 polls close at at 8 p.m., Elections New Brunswick said in a news release Tuesday.

Advance polling for that region will be held on May 15 and May 17.

"Electors that live in the previously locked-down area will be sent voter information cards very shortly advising them of the new dates and the polling stations where they are eligible to vote," Kim Poffenroth, New Brunswick's chief electoral officer, said in the release.

Municipalities where elections were suspended include Edmundston, Haut-Madawaska, Lac Baker, Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska and Saint-Lonard, the release said.

The lockdown also suspended elections for Francophone Northwest School Subdistrict 3 as well as Vitalit Health NetworkSubregion A3.

Most people vote May 10

All regions of New Brunswick outside of those that were most recently under lockdown in Zone 4 are scheduled to have elections on May 10.

But Poffenroth earlier this weeksaid results from those regions wouldn't be revealed until lockdowns were lifted in zones where they were in place.

Poffenroth said the reason for doing so was that district education counciland regional health authority voting overlaps in areas that were both in and out of lockdown.

"You don't release results for a contest if people can still vote in that contest," she said, speaking on CBC's Information Morning.

Candidates in contests that were deemed elected by acclamation after the close of nominations on April 9 will also be declared as elected on May 25.