A dozen ridings in Quebec lack staff in the polling stations less than two days before the election.
Posted at 4:57 p.m.
At the Director General of Elections of Quebec (DGEQ), spokesperson Dany Lapointe confirmed on Saturday that the organization is understaffed in a dozen ridings. Friday, it was already the case in Mont-Royal-Outremont, D’Arcy-McGee, Mégantic, Beauharnois, Hull and Pontiac. On Saturday, four ridings were added to the list, namely Huntingdon, Prévost, Terrebonne and Verdun, confirms Dany Lapointe.
Several employees notably withdrew due to COVID-19, he explains. However, the DGEQ indicated that it had labor issues only in the riding of Laporte, earlier this week. “We have even been able to increase the number of staff in certain ridings that have had more requests,” said Julie St-Arnaud Drolet, also spokesperson for Elections Quebec, by email.
The DGEQ is aimed at young people
According to Dany Lapointe, “about sixty” positions are to be filled in Mégantic and Mont-Royal–Outremont, and about fifty in D’Arcy-McGee. Nearly 80 employees are also missing in Pontiac, and about forty in Hull. “We are working to fill the missing positions,” explained the spokesperson on this subject.
To deal with this problem, the DGEQ authorizes this year the hiring of personnel under the age of 18. “Election officers can be hired from the age of 16, which will broaden the pool of candidates while providing an opportunity for future electors to familiarize themselves with the electoral process,” supports Dany Lapointe by email.
He recalls that this modification “results from a recommendation that we have made in recent years and from a legislative change adopted last December”. Dany Lapointe specified that a report will be made on the number of young people aged 16 and 17 who worked on polling day.
“We have a school in Quebec, the Collège des Compagnons, which will hold a polling station on Monday. Only young people aged 16 and 17 will work there as scrutineers and election clerks,” confirms the spokesperson.
“Currently, we still have hope of having all the necessary staff in the offices,” he mentions. Élections Québec warns from the outset that it may be necessary to be patient on polling day. The shortage of staff could indeed create significant queues in some constituency offices.
Resources have been hired as “substitutes”, in case there is a shortage of staff on D-Day, in order to fill the gaps. Some will therefore learn on Monday whether they should offer reinforcements or not, depending on where they are in the province.
With Vincent Larin, The Press