(Montreal) Élections Québec is preparing an Internet voting pilot project for the 2025 municipal general elections, with the aim of making electoral participation more accessible.
This method of voting would be offered to a limited number of electors from some fifteen municipalities, so that the process would be prudent and gradual.
Each municipality would be responsible for its elections, but Élections Québec would direct the choice of supplier as well as the implementation and administration of the platform. The digital solution chosen should also meet numerous security and accessibility requirements.
Internet voting would be held over two three-day voting periods. It would be offered continuously, 24 hours a day, but not on advance polling days or on election day.
The approximately 15 municipalities participating in the pilot project must have a population of 20,000 or more. They will have to display varied profiles and be distributed in the different administrative regions of Quebec, in order to obtain an overall portrait of the Internet voting experience in the different regions.
To participate in the pilot project, a municipality must first confirm its interest through a resolution from its municipal council. Subsequently, the applications will be analyzed.
At least four municipalities have so far expressed their interest in taking part in the pilot project: Beloeil, in Montérégie, Lévis, Magog and Laval.
Louise Lortie, who is a municipal councilor for the district of Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, in Laval, explains that any means aimed at facilitating access to the vote and increasing the rate of participation in elections deserves to be studied.
In the Laval municipal elections of 2021, the participation rate was 28%.