ST. JOHN’S, N.L.—Less than 12 hours before polls were set to open in much of the province, Newfoundland and Labrador’s chief electoral officer on Friday called off all in−person voting in response to a COVID−19 outbreak. Bruce Chaulk announced voting in the provincial election set for Saturday will now be exclusively by mail, and ballots must be received by March 1. “I urge anyone interested in voting in this election to apply for a special ballot to ensure your democratic participation,” he said in a news release. His announcement came shortly after health officials announced that they had confirmed the United Kingdom variant was behind the COVID−19 outbreak that hit the St. John’s region this week. Voters in 22 of the province’s 40 ridings were set to head to the polls Saturday after Chaulk on Thursday suspended voting across the Avalon Peninsula, which includes St. John’s. Under the Alert Level …