A Quebec Superior Court judge has ordered Élections Québec to mail voting reminder cards in both French and English.
This was the first year the elections authority sent out voter guides in French only, to comply with new provincial language legislation. The guides included a QR code to access information in English online.
Groups representing anglophones in the province heavily criticized the move, saying it infringes on the right to vote.
Justice Sylvain Lussier wrote in his 23-page decision that there was concern of serious and irreparable prejudice against Quebecers who do not understand French.
Geoffrey Chambers, a Westmount resident and the former president of an anglophone rights group, was the lead plaintiff in the case.
He had asked the judge to grant an emergency order to get the elections agency to provide English copies of the provincial election guide, a notice sent to electors, and a reminder card.
He argued that the QR code isn’t an adequate substitute because many people can’t access them, including some seniors and people without cellphones or reliable internet.
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“The proof raises concerns that a large number of English-speaking seniors could be unable to exercise their right to vote due to a lack of understandable information,” Lussier wrote.
According to Lussier, there is also concern that election results could be invalidated if the right to vote is infringed on.
He pointed to the result of the 2025 federal byelection in Terrebonne, which was invalidated because of a clerical error on the return address for some mail-in ballots.
A recount handed the win to Liberal Tatiana Auguste by a single vote.
The one-vote result triggered a challenge after a Bloc voter’s mail-in ballot was returned because of an incorrect postal code on an Elections Canada return envelope
“It is clear that the loss of the right to vote in an election is permanent,” wrote Lussier. “The loss of a single vote was enough to invalidate the federal election in Terrebonne.”
However, lawyers representing the elections authority said it was impossible to reprint all documents to include English information given the time and budgetary constraints, which Lussier acknowledged in his decision.
He nonetheless asked Élections Québec to send the voter reminder card in both official languages. The list of candidates on the cards is finalized at 2 p.m. on Sept. 17, and the agency had already planned to print out reminder cards to mail out after that deadline.
Lussier’s ruling suspends provisions of the Charter of the French Language for 10 days to allow the printing of bilingual reminder cards.
Élections Québec had asked the government to be exempt from provisions forcing government institutions to issue public communications in French only as early as 2023. It raised concerns that it could not fulfil its mission to make elections accessible to all Quebecers as a result of the law.
Quebec voters go to the polls on Oct. 5.
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