Quebec solidaire candidate Alejandra Zaga Mendez was declared the winner in Verdun late Monday night with a 461-vote lead, but outgoing Liberal MP Isabelle Melançon questions the outcome of the vote and lets it float a possible request for a judicial recount of the votes. However, such a request has not yet been officially formulated, confirmed The duty.
The Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) has been informed of the existence of “problematic polling stations”, indicates to the To have to Andréanne Moreau, the political attaché of Mme Melancon. The party also held a meeting this morning with the Verdun returning officer to take stock of this situation, she said. Québec solidaire, for its part, confirms from the outset that it will not request a judicial recount of the votes.
A historic change
A strong Liberal castle since 1939, the riding took on the orange hue of Québec solidaire for the first time in its history last night, thus allowing the progressive party to win an additional seat in the National Assembly compared to 2018, for a total of 11 deputies.
However, the race was tight all evening on Monday, with the Liberal and Solidarity candidates alternating in turn in first place for several hours before the lead of Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois’ team was confirmed. Alejandra Zaga Mendez, 34, finally collected 9,562 votes, against 9,101 votes for Mme Melancon.
Joined by The duty, the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec (DGEQ) indicates that to date it has not received any request for a judicial recount of the votes. However, he specifies that “any person” can file such a request before the Court of Quebec “during the four days following” the counting of the votes at the polls.
“Any person may apply for a recount if he or she has reasonable grounds to believe that ballots were counted or discarded unlawfully or that a record of the recount is inaccurate. When the result of the votes is confirmed by the court, the returning officer declares the election of the candidate who obtained the most votes,” explains a spokesperson for the DGEQ, Julie St-Arnaud Drolet.
The PLQ must also confirm later today whether or not it will make a request for a judicial recount, it is indicated to the To have to.
More details will follow.