Montreal | A participation rate of 31.7% at 4 p.m.

Montrealers did not have to queue before going to the voting booth on Sunday for the municipal elections. The participation rate of 31.7% at the stroke of 4 p.m. illustrates the low traffic in the polling stations.

Coralie Laplante
Press

In Quebec City, the participation rate stood at 35.8% at 5:30 pm This number represents a drop from the participation rate recorded at the same time in 2017, of 46%.

Severine Giroux and her spouse Ronald Pierre-Charles were able to vote in a few minutes, they say at the exit of Sainte-Anne school, in the borough of Rosemont – La Petite-Patrie. Accompanied by their two children, it was essential for the couple to exercise their right to vote.

“Since I was old enough to vote, I have always voted,” says Pierre-Charles. He emphasizes having given his support to the head of Projet Montréal, Valérie Plante. “I cannot say that I adhere to 100% of the program, but if I had the two programs to compare, it was Projet Montréal [que je préférais] He continues.

Two employees directed the voters in front of the Henri-Julien school, in the district of Villeray. The neighboring school, Joseph-Charbonneau, also served as a polling station.

“There were a lot more people at the federal level,” said one of the two employees, who is not authorized to speak to the media. He says that few citizens came to exercise their right to vote on Sunday, but all the same “more” than the day before.

“If you want to whine, that’s where you can whine,” says Gilles Letendre, coming out of a polling station in the borough of Côte-Des-Neiges — Notre-Dame. -From-Grace. The man affirms that he gave his vote to Denis Coderre, in particular because of the establishment of a cycle path which he considers inadequate near his home.

Robert Peralta claims to have waited five minutes before voting, at the same polling station as Mr. Letendre. “It’s my right to vote, so I always exercise my right,” he says. “I think I voted for the right person who can run the city,” he adds, not wanting to specify the candidate to whom he gave his vote.

For Clara Sing, it was essential to vote for a candidate who had the interests of seniors at heart. “I think it’s really important to pay attention [aux élections], not just federal and provincial, ”she said, accompanied by her spouse, after having voted in the Parc-Extension sector. ” We worked, [maintenant] we need assistance, ”she adds.