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Quebec court orders bilingual voter information ahead of Oct. 5 election
A judge ruled that Élections Québec must send voting reminder cards in both French and English. The court found that French-only mailings interfere with the voting rights of English-speaking Quebecers.
A Quebec Superior Court judge ordered Élections Québec to send voter documents in both French and English ahead of the Oct. 5 election, Courthouse News reported.
Judge Sylvain Lussier granted an interlocutory injunction on Wednesday, the last day such an order could be issued before voter reminder cards went to print. He had heard arguments on Sept. 10 from plaintiff Geoffrey Chambers, the Quebec attorney general and the provincial election body.
Chambers, a former president of the anglophone rights group now known as Talking. Advocating. Living in Québec, argued that sending election information only in French would violate the voting rights of English-speaking Quebecers under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Lussier agreed, finding that the French-only approach effectively denies about 12% of voters the chance to obtain in English the information they need to cast a ballot, according to Courthouse News.
The ruling requires the voting reminder card, which tells voters where, when and how to vote, to be bilingual. But the voter information card and election guide had already been mailed in French only, and the judge said producing and mailing English versions now would be unrealistic and extremely costly. Courthouse News reported that the bilingual reminder-card operation will add 6 million Canadian dollars in costs for Élections Québec, bringing the total mailing bill to CA$16.4 million.
The injunction will remain in effect for 10 days and expire at the end of the mailing period. The parties would have to return to court if they want the order renewed.
Lussier also referred to the disputed 2025 parliamentary election in the district of Terrebonne, where a voter said she had been unable to vote because of an address error on her voter card. He noted that the winning candidate prevailed by a single vote and that the Supreme Court of Canada later voided the election, using that case to underscore the importance of every ballot in the electoral process.
According to Courthouse News, the dispute stems from a 2022 law declaring French the official and common language of Quebec, reinforcing French as the province’s sole official language and limiting access to public services in English. Élections Québec had sought an exemption from those rules and had been in discussions with the government since 2023, but the request was ultimately denied despite warnings that the issue could affect the validity of the election.
The election body had said it would provide English-language information on its website and by phone to people who meet the criteria under the law, including Indigenous people and those declared eligible to receive instruction in English. Lussier found that solution insufficient, especially for older people who may struggle with technology or internet access.
Élections Québec declined to comment on the substance of the ruling but said it would be able to produce a reminder card containing information in French and English, Courthouse News reported. Chambers’ lawyer, Doug Mitch, praised the decision and said he hopes the government will eventually grant the exemption the election body had requested to avoid further litigation before future elections.
Sources
About this piece. Written by El Notero with AI assistance, from reporting published by the outlet cited above. El Notero did no original reporting on this story.
