Quebec Elections: How to Vote on Campus
Those Eligible Can Vote Early From the Comfort of Concordia
On Oct. 3, millions of Quebecers will head to their respective polling stations. All Concordia classes will consequently be cancelled, as per the Quebec Election Act.
Concordia staff and faculty will be relieved of their duties at 4 p.m., allotting them enough time to cast their ballots. Unfortunately, there is no way for anybody—students included—to vote on campus on Election Day.
However, there is a workaround! The provincial government mandates CEGEPs and universities provide facilities for those eligible to cast their ballot from campus in advance of the general election on Oct. 3.
Advance voting will take place in the atrium of the J. W. McConnell Building, commonly referred to as the library building. The dates are as follows: Sept. 27 and Sept. 28 between 9:30 a.m. and 8 p.m., as well as Sept. 29 between 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m..
To make up for the change in schedule, classes that were supposed to take place on Oct. 3 will take place on Oct. 12. Any classes students would have missed on that Monday will get transferred to the following Wednesday schedule.
But, who is eligible to vote? readers may be wondering. In order to cast your ballot, you must be a Canadian citizen aged 18 or older as of Oct. 3. Additionally, you must have been living in Quebec since at least April 3 of this year. You cannot have been stripped of your voting rights or be living under curatorship. If you want to vote on campus, you need to live in the Westmount-Saint-Louis district.
Most importantly, your name and home address need to be on the list of electors. The deadline to add your name is Sept. 29, a mere four days before the election. You will have to go to your returning officer’s office in-person in order to register your name. Those only registering this week are ineligible from voting on campus because the deadline for early voting registration closed on Sept. 19.
When you make it to the polling station, you will need a piece of government identification. Quebec driver’s licenses, health insurance cards, Canadian passports, status cards, and Canadian Forces IDs are permitted.
If you don’t have any of these to prove your identity on the list of electors, you have three options. Either bring a person who can attest to your identity under oath, present two documents with your name and photo, or or bring two documents containing your name, address, and date of birth.
Finally, remember that polls on Election Day close at 8 p.m..
This article originally appeared in Volume 43, Issue 3, published September 27, 2022.
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