Nunavut election result not validated as ballot box held up in cargo by blizzard

Elections Canada signage is pictured near an advance polling station in Ottawa on Friday, April 18, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

OTTAWA — The federal election result in Nunavut still has not been validated by Elections Canada, because one final ballot box has been delayed by a blizzard.

NDP incumbent Lori Idlout won the unofficial result by 77 votes over Liberal candidate Kilikvak Kabloona.

Elections Canada has a validation process to confirm the unofficial count completed on election night, but the final box from the community of Naujaat has not made it to Iqaluit to be tallied.

Returning officer Jean-Claude Nguyen confirmed to The Canadian Press the box is stuck at the airline cargo facility in Rankin Inlet.

Iqaluit was hit by a rare late-spring blizzard on Thursday, cancelling flights into the capital and leaving the community without power for about seven hours.

Nguyen said there are fewer than 100 votes in the ballot box, however, and hopes to validate the result by the end of the week.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2025

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press