Elections: Voters were able to vote with a pen

Supporters of Eric Duhaime, who feared their choice would be erased, were able to use a pen instead of a lead pencil thanks to the Chief Electoral Officer’s skillful interpretation of the law during an early poll.

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Several supporters of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) have announced their intention to use an indelible pencil at the voting booth to prevent them from changing their vote during voting.

The head of the PCQ had to remind his militants to indicate that a ballot with any marking other than the lead pencil given by the scrutineer could be rejected. “For example, with a pen or a felt-tip pen,” he notes.

Quebec’s Chief Electoral Officer (DGEQ) confirmed today that voters were asked for a pen at “some polling places.”

Valid votes

“During the advance poll, some scrutineers mistakenly handed over a pen to voters to exercise their right to vote. Voting teams have a pen in hand to cross off the electoral roll,” explained DGEQ spokeswoman Julie Saint-Arnaud Drolet.

When apprised of this situation, the DGEQ “asked these teams to use the same pen for all voters and to consider all votes thus cast, the pencil given to an elector by the Deputy Returning Officer in accordance with the spirit of the Article of the Act.

Concerned voters could use an indelible pen, but only the pen provided by the Deputy Returning Officer.

“The votes of these voters were not rejected,” said M^me Saint-Arnaud.

However, the instruction only applied to the pre-poll period, “as a reminder to all teams to use lead pencil in view of Election Day.”

Not in Beause-Nord

The spokesman also believes that using the pen in Beaus-Nord, where the PCQ lost by 202 votes and called for a recount, is out of the question. During the balloting, 372 ballots were rejected.

“The Beaus-Nord returning officer confirmed to me that, as far as she knew, that did not happen in Beaus-Nord. However, she circulated instructions to all the scrutineers so that if it had happened, the scrutineers would not have rejected the ballots for this reason,” said Mr.^me Saint-Arnaud.

A request for recounting is currently under advisement.

“Furthermore, the rejection rate of ballots in the Beaus-Nord riding is the lowest in Quebec,” she said. The overall ballot rejection rate in the 2022 election is also lower than in the 2018 election.