She challenged an N.L. election in court. Now she’s running again — in two districts

Former provincial NDP leader Alison Coffin is interviewed by the local media in the foyer of the Confederation Building during the presentation of the 2021 provincial budget in St.John's on May 31, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly

ST. JOHN’S — A woman who launched a court challenge seeking changes to the electoral system in Newfoundland and Labrador is once again running for provincial politics — in two districts.

Alison Coffin announced her candidacy Monday as an Independent in neighbouring rural districts in eastern Newfoundland. The former leader of the province’s NDP said her double-district run for the legislature is a legitimate effort to serve those two areas, and a statement about election rules that need to be reformed.

“It’s to partly prove a point, but also to be a voice of a lot of people who are feeling that they haven’t been heard, that their concerns are not being reflected in the decisions of majority governments,” Coffin said in an interview. “The response has been unbelievably and wildly positive.”

Coffin was part of a court challenge launched soon after the province’s 2021 election, which was upended by an outbreak of COVID-19. Officials cancelled all in-person voting and instead switched to mail-in ballots, delaying the election by weeks. The Liberals won a slim majority, with a 51 per cent voter turnout.

Coffin lost her seat in her former St. John’s district by 53 votes. She contested the results in a lawsuit alleging election irregularities, alongside a voter from the district who said he never received a mail-in ballot.

John Abbott, the Liberal who beat Coffin, announced in June that he would resign to end the lawsuit and avoid a costly trial.

Coffin said she has since moved to Spaniard’s Bay, which is in the Harbour Grace–Port de Grave district. She is also running in Carbonear–Trinity–Bay de Verde, where forest fires destroyed more than 200 homes and structures this summer. Constituents there, she said, want someone in the provincial government that will fight to get them the resources they need to rebuild.

Elections NL confirmed in an email that Coffin is an official candidate in both districts. There are no rules preventing someone from running in multiple districts, a spokesperson for the election authority said.

It’s an example of a provincial election regulation that needs closer examination, Coffin said.

Newfoundland and Labrador’s election laws also allow private companies and unions to make unlimited donations to political parties and campaigns. Coffin said those rules — or lack thereof — should also be overhauled, and she is refusing all contributions from businesses and unions.

She is not quite sure what will happen if she wins both seats in the legislature, but she assumes she would be able to represent both districts, speaking and voting on their behalf. Coffin said she would cast opposing votes if they best represented her constituents.

She spoked with NDP Leader Jim Dinn about running for his party again, but she decided Dinn didn’t need the hassle of trying to defend her running in two districts.

“(He) has a party mandate, he has to abide by that party mandate, and he has to get himself and 39 other candidates elected,” she said. “This is a little bit outside their purview.”

Voters in Newfoundland and Labrador head to the polls on Oct. 14. The Liberals held 19 of 40 seats in the legislature when the election was called last week. The Progressive Conservatives held 14, the NDP held one and there were two Independents and four vacant seats.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2025.

Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press