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Can you vote?
Summary
To vote in an election or referendum, you must meet certain conditions, including having your name entered on the list of electors.
Provincial
To vote:
- Your name and home address must be on the list of electors (check your entry now)
- You must be 18 years of age or older on election day
- You must be a Canadian citizen
- You must have been living in Québec for at least six months
- You must not have lost your election rights
- Your name and home address must be on the list of electors (check your entry now)
- You must be 18 years of age or older on election day
- You must be a Canadian citizen
- You must have been living in Québec for at least [month -6]
- You must not have lost your election rights
What you need to bring when voting
You must have one of the following pieces of identification with you:
- Québec driver’s licence
- Health insurance card
- Canadian passport
- Indian status card
- Canadian Forces identification card
You don’t have the necessary documents to prove your identity?
Election officers can direct you to the elector identity verification panel. You will have to declare under oath that you are the person entered on the list of electors and sign the oath provided for this purpose. In this situation, you have three options:
- Bring a person with you who can attest to your identity under oath and identify themselves by presenting one of the following documents: health insurance card, driver’s licence, Canadian passport, Indian status card, or Canadian Forces identification card
- Present two documents that have your name on them, one of which with your photo
- Present two documents with your name on them and which, together, provide proof of your address and date of birth
Exercising election rights
- The right to vote is protected by the Canadian and Québec charters of rights and freedoms. It can only be withdrawn for specific reasons provided for in electoral legislation.
- Depending on a person's residual capacity, the court may withdraw their right to vote in a tutorship judgment.
- When a court declares a person to be incapable (for example, due to a degenerative cognitive disease), they do not necessarily lose the right to vote. If that person has retained the right to vote, they must be able to state their name, address, and date of birth at a polling station.
- The tutor of a person under tutorship, or the confirmed mandatary following the homologation of a protection mandate, may request that the person they represent be removed from the list of electors if they deem it appropriate. They must then provide the required documents.
- If an elector is unable to mark their ballot paper, they may be assisted by another person (a spouse, a relative, an elector who has not previously assisted another elector at the poll, or the deputy returning officer in the presence of the poll clerk). This assistance shall be noted in the poll book.
Municipal
- Requirements for voting in municipal elections
- Requirements for voting in a referendum
- Exercising election rights
Requirements for voting in municipal elections
To vote, you must meet the following conditions on election day:
- Your name must be on the list of electors (you can check your entry with the returning officer)
- Be 18 years of age or older on the date of the election
- Have Canadian citizenship
- Not have lost your election rights
- When a by-election is held, to be entered on a municipality’s list of electors, a person must be a qualified elector on the publication date of the notice of election. If the municipality’s notice of election was published before November 1, 2022, persons who were under curatorship before that date cannot be entered on the list of electors, because they were not qualified electors.
You must also meet one of the following two sets of conditions:
If your home is located in the municipality
Entry on the list of electors
If the information about you is up to date at Élections Québec, we sent your name to the returning officer so that they can add it to the municipal list of electors. It is your responsibility to verify your registration.
If your home is not located in the municipality
- You must have been the owner of a building or occupied a business establishment within the municipality for at least 12 months
- You must have sent the municipality an application for registration or a power of attorney within the required timeframe
Power of attorney
The co-owners and co-occupants of business establishments must designate one of their members to be entered on the list of electors. They must send this power of attorney to the municipality.
Requirements for voting in a referendum
To be eligible to vote, you must:
- Be entered on the referendum list
- Not have lost your election rights
- When a municipal referendum is held, to be entered on a municipality’s referendum list, a natural person must be eligible to vote on the date of reference, as defined in section 514(2) of the Act respecting elections and referendums in municipalities (CQLR, c. E-2.2). If the date of reference is before November 1, 2022, persons who were under curatorship before that date cannot be entered on the municipality’s referendum list.
You must also meet one of the following three sets of conditions:
If your home is located in the municipality
- You must have been living in Québec for at least 6 months
- Be 18 years of age or over
- Have Canadian citizenship
Important!
If you are a new resident of the municipality, contact your municipality to see if you meet these conditions. You will be told when your domicile had to be established in the municipality to vote in the referendum.
If your home is not located in the municipality
- You must have been the owner of a building or occupied a business establishment within the municipality for at least 12 months
- You must be 18 years of age or over
- You must have Canadian citizenship
- You must have sent the municipality an application for registration or a power of attorney within the required timeframe
Power of attorney
The co-owners and co-occupants of business establishments must designate one of their members to be entered on the list of electors. They must send this power of attorney to the municipality.
Important!
If you recently bought a building or occupied a business establishment in the municipality, contact your municipality to see if you meet the applicable conditions to vote. You will be told by what date you had to be registered to vote in the referendum.
If a corporation owns a building or occupies a business establishment
- It must have been the owner of a building or occupied a business establishment (within the meaning of the Act respecting municipal taxation) within the municipality for at least 12 months
- Designate, by resolution, a natural person who will exercise their right to vote and send this resolution to the municipality
Designated person
The designated person must:
- Be 18 years of age or over
- Have Canadian citizenship
- Not have lost your election rights
Important!
If the corporation has recently met any of these conditions, contact your municipality to find out if it meets this group of conditions. You will be told by what date it had to respond in order to be eligible to vote in the referendum.
Exercising election rights
- The right to vote is protected by the Canadian and Québec charters of rights and freedoms. It can only be withdrawn for specific reasons provided for in electoral legislation.
- Depending on a person's residual capacity, the court may withdraw their right to vote in a tutorship judgment.
- When a court declares a person to be incapable (for example, due to a degenerative cognitive disease), they do not necessarily lose the right to vote. If that person has retained the right to vote, they must be able to state their name, address, and date of birth at a polling station.
- The tutor of a person under tutorship, or the confirmed mandatary following the homologation of a protection mandate, may request that the person they represent be removed from the list of electors if they deem it appropriate. They must then provide the required documents.
- If an elector is unable to mark their ballot paper, they may be assisted by another person (a spouse, a relative, an elector who has not previously assisted another elector at the poll, or the deputy returning officer in the presence of the poll clerk). This assistance shall be noted in the poll book.
Any other questions?
Your returning officer can answer all your questions about municipal elections. You can also visit the links below to learn more about municipal elections.
School
Requirements for exercising your right to vote
In order to exercise your right to vote in a general election or a by-election, your name must be entered on the school board list of electors and you must meet the following conditions.
On election day, you must:
- Be 18 years of age or older
- Be a Canadian citizen
- Be residing in the school board’s territory
- Have been living in Québec for at least 6 months
- Not have lost your election rights
* In a by-election, your home must be located in the electoral division under elections.
Adults with children currently attending school
If you have one or more children enrolled in the English-language school board serving your area, you should be on the list of electors for that school board. Three weeks before election day, we recommend that you check to see if your name appears on the information card you receive in the mail.
Adults without children attending school
If you do not have any children enrolled in a French-language school service centre or in the English-language school board serving your area and you wish to vote in that school board election, you must apply to the director general. You can also make a request to the returning officer during an election period.
Exercising election rights
- The right to vote is protected by the Canadian and Québec charters of rights and freedoms. It can only be withdrawn for specific reasons provided for in electoral legislation.
- Depending on a person's residual capacity, the court may withdraw their right to vote in a tutorship judgment.
- When a court declares a person to be incapable (for example, due to a degenerative cognitive disease), they do not necessarily lose the right to vote. If that person has retained the right to vote, they must be able to state their name, address, and date of birth at a polling station.
- The tutor of a person under tutorship, or the confirmed mandatary following the homologation of a protection mandate, may request that the person they represent be removed from the list of electors if they deem it appropriate. They must then provide the required documents.
- If an elector is unable to mark their ballot paper, they may be assisted by another person (a spouse, a relative, an elector who has not previously assisted another elector at the poll, or the deputy returning officer in the presence of the poll clerk). This assistance shall be noted in the poll book.