News archives

Declaration by the Chief Electoral Officer of Québec Regarding the Reaction Provoked by the Likelihood of a Large Number of Persons Trying to Vote Wearing a Veil or With Their Face Covered

Québec City, March 25, 2007 – The Chief Electoral Officer of Québec, Me Marcel Blanchet, would like to remind Québec electors that the reminder card is the best source of information on where to vote during the general elections of March 26th. More than 3,600,000 reminder cards have been mailed over the past few days in the 125 electoral divisions in Québec.

Québec City, March 25, 2007 – The Chief Electoral Officer of Québec, Me Marcel Blanchet, is inviting over 5 millions electors to exercise their voting rights during the general elections that will take place tomorrow. From 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., 21,466 polling stations will be open and over 100,000 election officers will administer the elections during which 679 candidates will be vying for the votes of the electorate.

Québec City, March 21, 2007 –– The Chief Electoral Officer of Québec, Me Marcel Blanchet, would like to remind electors that the deadline for electors to register on the list of electors for the general elections of March 26, 2007 is tomorrow, March 22nd at 2 p.m. Today, March 21st, applications for revision can be presented until 9 p.m.

Québec City, March 20, 2007 –– The Chief Electoral Officer, Me Marcel Blanchet, would like to announce that during the advance poll held on March 18th and 19th, 564,409 electors exercised their voting rights. This figure represents 10.06% of the number of electors entered on the list of electors before the special revision.

Québec City, March 16, 2007 – One of the highlights of the election period leading to polling day on March 26th will take place next Sunday and Monday (March 18th & 19th) when Québec electors will be able to vote in the advance poll. The Chief Electoral Officer, Me Marcel Blanchet, would like to remind electors that advance polling stations will open from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., which is a first for a general election in Québec. In the past, advance polling stations were only open from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. In the 2003 general elections, 5.56% of registered electors voted in the advance poll.

Québec City, March 19, 2007 –– The Chief Electoral Officer, Me Marcel Blanchet, would like to inform the public that after the revision period that took place from March 5th to 13th, 5,608,764 electors were entered on the list of electors.

Québec City, March 16, 2007 –– At the end of the periods earmarked for registration for domiciliary voting or for voting in residential facilities, the Chief Electoral Officer of Québec, Me Marcel Blanchet, would like to announce that close to 15,000 electors who are unable to move about have applied to vote in hospitals, rehabilitation centres, residential and long-term care centres (CHSLD) or retirement homes with less than 50 residents, while about 7,600 electors have applied to vote at home in the advance poll.

Quebec City, March 14, 2007 –– The Chief Electoral Officer of Québec, Me Marcel Blanchet, would like to inform electors who were not able to take advantage of the regular revision period that they can they have a last opportunity during the special revision period that starts today and ends on March 22nd at 2 p.m.

Québec City, March 10, 2007 –– The Chief Electoral Officer of Québec, Me Marcel Blanchet, would like to announce that 11,494 electors who are temporarily absent from Québec have registered to vote by correspondence in the general elections of March 26, 2007. These electors reside or will be residing in about 100 countries on all continents when polling takes place. The figure of 11,494 is double the 5,531 electors who were registered to “vote outside Québec” during the general elections of April 14, 2003. However, the figure is lower than the 16,606 registrations received during the general elections of November 30, 1998.

Québec City, March 11, 2007 –– At end of the period earmarked for the filing of nomination papers, the Chief Electoral Officer of Québec, Me Marcel Blanchet, would like to provide some data regarding the profile of candidates that is discernible from the nomination papers received.

Québec City, March 10, 2007 –– In view of the general elections of March 26, 2007, the Chief Electoral Officer of Québec, Me Marcel Blanchet, would like to announce that after the period for the filing of nomination papers that ended today at 2 p.m., 680 nomination papers were accepted from the 125 electoral divisions in Québec, compared to 646 in the 2003 general elections. The figure of 680 equals the record set in the general elections of September 12, 1994.

Québec City, March 4, 2007 – The Chief Electoral Officer of Québec, Me Marcel Blanchet, believes that about 140,000 Québec electors could modify their entries on the list of electors during the revision exercise that will begin on Monday, March 5, 2007, in view of the general elections of March 26, 2007. This figure represents about 2.5% of the total number of electors entered on the list of electors. Based on experience from previous elections, most of the modifications to the list of electors will be made by persons who have moved and whose change of address was not communicated to the Chief Electoral Officer. The second most frequent type of modification should be new entries. An initial “revision operation” will take place from March 5 to 13 in the 125 electoral divisions in Québec. This will be followed by a special revision period running from March 14 to March to 22, 2007, at 2 p.m., which will give a last opportunity to persons who did not visit a board of revisors to update their information.

Québec City, March 6, 2007 –– Marcel Blanchet, the Chief Electoral Officer of Québec, would like to inform persons who are qualified electors in Québec but are currently residing outside Québec that they have only 24 hours to return their application to vote by correspondence in the general elections of March 26, 2007. The application must be received in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer latest March 7, 2007, at midnight.

Québec City, March 2, 2007 – The Chief Electoral Officer of Québec, Me Marcel Blanchet, would like to clarify his position regarding the dissemination of partisan information on the Internet in light of events that occurred during the first week of the election period. Although the Chief Electoral Officer has not received any complaint in this regard, a number of situations were brought to his attention, thus leading him to clarify how the Election Act can be applied to the new reality of the Internet.