Leaders vote | A returning officer hinders the work of journalists, the DGEQ apologizes

The returning officer for the riding of Gouin, Marie Vallée, hampered the work of journalists on Monday who were following the co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire (QS), Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, as he went to vote. The other party leaders did not have these problems. In the evening, the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec (DGEQ), Pierre Reid, apologized.

Hugo Pilon Larose
The Press

Fanny Levesque
The Press

Charles Lecavalier
The Press

Mylene Crete
The Press

Tommy Chouinard
The Press

Upon arrival at the polling station. Mr. Nadeau-Dubois and his team were arrested by Mr.^me Vallée, who refused to allow photographers and cameramen to follow the outgoing solidarity parliamentary leader near the box where he deposited his ballot. However, tradition dictates that the media be welcomed into the polling stations when the leaders exercise their democratic right.

The returning officer finally decided to accept the presence of the media, but repeatedly demanded that they stand “along the wall”. Despite the repeated explanations of the photographers, who affirmed that it would be easier to come near the box in order to avoid photographing citizens who had come to exercise their right to vote, Ms.^me Vallée maintained his instructions.

At one point, she even lamented that the journalists were blocking for a few minutes “the progress of the vote of the small voters”, that is to say the children who accompany their parents and who participate in a simulation exercise of vote.

“You people, we’re doing you a favor,” she told photographers who asked Ms.^me Valley let them do their job.

“I am at the service of 45,000 voters, not just one. Thanks. That’s my statement,” she finally asserted, chasing the media out of the room.

During this time, the Québec solidaire team accompanying the chef was distraught. The party confirmed to journalists that it had taken steps with the Director General of Elections of Quebec (DGEQ) to confirm that journalists could indeed be welcomed to take images of the vote. According to our information, a senior official in his office had even written to QS over the past few days to recall that “during the vote for [François] Legault last week, there were more than 20 media on site.

Early Monday evening, the DGEQ, Pierre Reid, apologized and described the incident as “regrettable”. “We want to prevent such a situation from happening again. […] The press is allowed to take photos. It’s part of the election coverage,” Reid said.

“I think the rules need to be reassessed to ensure full journalistic coverage and ensure fairness for all candidates when they cast their vote,” he added.

Four chiefs vote

Before this incident, while walking with his spouse and their child in the streets of his riding, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois urged citizens to exercise their right on Monday.

“It’s not a very stressful day, because we did what we could. I gave everything I had to give. I presented our project to people and then people will decide. I am very serene. I’m going to vote in my neighborhood. Quebecers will make their decision,” he said.

After 36 days of campaigning, it’s D-Day. In turn, the leaders of the various political parties will go to the polls to vote and call on Quebecers to do the same.

Dominique Anglade went to a polling station in her riding of Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne on Monday to exercise her duty as a citizen. “It’s D-Day, it’s D-Day,” said the leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec when putting her ballot in the ballot box.

“I feel like I gave it my all in this campaign, I put all the ideas forward, I listened and, above all, I was myself. That’s why I have the feeling of accomplishment, “said Mr.^me Anglade during a brief press scrum. She says she is “febrile” a few hours before election night, which will be celebrated in Montreal in the case of the Liberals.

“I am very confident, everything will depend on the outcome of the vote. It is important to tell Quebeckers to go and vote. This is the exercise we must do today. Everyone delivered their campaign. Now, the floor is up to Quebecers,” added the Liberal leader. Dominique Anglade’s campaign had a difficult start strewn with pitfalls, mainly related to the organization. But she believes she has raised the bar over the past two weeks.

PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, for his part, went to vote in the morning in the riding of Camille-Laurin, in Montreal, and invites all Quebecers to do the same.

“Today is a beautiful sunny day, an ideal day to vote. Why are we going to vote? Basically, we vote for democracy, to ensure that there is a government and oppositions that have different voices that are heard in a national assembly that works in the best interests of Quebec. That’s the goal,” he said.

He stressed that “every vote has symbolic value”, but also “real electoral value”.

“Voting day is really not the day for slogans or analyses. It is really to tell people: it is a fundamental value of our society to express oneself through the vote. It’s rare, once every four years. Today, my message boils down to this; exercise this fundamental right,” he told reporters.

It took little for the vote at the polling station where the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, Éric Duhaime, went to be compromised. While inside to vote, the driver of the Conservative caravan put out a fire in a lorry whose engine caught fire a few hundred meters away. The truck was carrying lawn fertilizer, which could have caused an explosion… In the end, there was more fear than harm.

Mr. Duhaime voted in the riding of Chauveau, accompanied by his spouse. This is his first Conservative vote on the Quebec political scene since in the past, he had voted for the Action démocratique du Québec and the Coalition avenir Québec.

“We may not have the same stress as the other parties because we are the only political party today that is certain to do better than last time,” he joked. In 2018, the PCQ obtained 1.46% of the vote, or less than 60,000 votes. Today, the political party has as many members.

“We have always done better than expected and I have confidence that tonight it will be the case again,” he said. He is hoping for a high turnout, which he says will benefit his party. ” It is important. This is an election that could mark the history of Quebec,” he said.

Unlike the other leaders, and in an extremely rare gesture for a political leader, François Legault had voted in advance on September 25.

Monday morning, the CAQ leader went to his party’s electoral headquarters in Quebec City to not only call for a vote, but to put forward his electoral platform in front of activists and volunteers. It’s unusual on Election Day, but completely legal.

“After verification, the Election law does not prohibit a candidate from campaigning on election day,” stated the Chief Electoral Officer of Québec.

However, it is forbidden to carry out partisan actions on the premises of a polling station. A political party may also not broadcast advertisements in the media on polling day.

“We are all a little stressed”, but “serene” by the unveiling of the results, launched François Legault to his activists, surrounded by 12 candidates from the greater Quebec City region.

“All the work you’ve done in the last few weeks to identify our supporters, well the culmination is today. We know – and it’s not true just in Quebec, it’s true pretty much everywhere – not all people will vote, have other concerns, other priorities. However, it is a civic duty. You have a duty to remember duty. We have to call, go knock on doors, tell our supporters: we need your vote, ”he said.

The CAQ leader set an example: he took the phone to encourage voters in Jean-Lesage, a riding held by Québec solidaire since 2018, to go to the polls.

More than one in five voters exercised their right to vote with a turnout of 22.92% at the advance poll. This is a marked increase compared to 2018. It is the first time that the 20% mark has been crossed.