It is all smiles that Denis Coderre and Valérie Plante voted on Sunday morning, respectively in Old Montreal and in Rosemont – La Petite-Patrie, marking the end of 52 days of electoral campaigns.
The outcome of this political struggle remains hard to predict in the metropolis, the two main candidates remained neck and neck in the polls until recently, with a slight lead for the Project Montreal candidate.
“Today is the real poll,” contrasted the conductor of Ensemble Montreal in front of journalists before placing his ballot in the ballot box. Denis Coderre – who thus concluded his 12th electoral campaign – described it as “one of the most beautiful” on a personal level. On the other hand, “it was a very dirty campaign, but not on our side,” he said against his opponent.
“It’s a little stressful moment when we wait for the result,” commented the outgoing mayor before going to the voting booth.
“We are enthusiastic about the idea of starting a second term, but of course we will wait until the end,” she added with her 18-year-old son voting for his mother for the first time.
The leader of Mouvement Montreal, Balarama Holness, did the same the day before, voting in an office in the city center.
Some 3,060 polling stations are located in 460 locations across the island. These polling stations will close at 8 p.m. No significant wait was reported to Élection Montreal in the early afternoon.
Take out the votes
Candidates will occupy the last hours before the results are released to crisscross the city to encourage voters to vote. The undecided ones account for about 7% of them according to the latest polls and the usually low participation rate in the municipal council opens the door to mobilization. In 2017, only 42.5% of registered voters in the metropolis had exercised their right to vote.
However, this participation index could turn out to be higher this year. “To distribute the vote” in these times of pandemic, Election Montreal has scheduled two days of advance polls during the last weekend, as well as two days of voting as such this Saturday and Sunday. In the last elections, citizens could only exercise their right to vote for two days.
Official statistics show that 12.9% of registered voters went to the polls early or voted by mail this year, while in 2017, 8% did the same.
This election is also unique because of the appearance of the postal vote. Some 6,000 people have asked to be able to vote remotely this year to replace mobile polls. The latter previously roamed the centers for the elderly to collect their voices, something impossible in the context of a pandemic.