Partial Victory in Lawsuit over French-only Quebec Election Voting Mailouts
The agency said French-only mailings could discourage anglophone and allophone voters and trigger legal challenges over election results.
- On Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, Judge Sylvain Lussier ordered Elections Québec to prepare election reminder cards in both English and French, following a civil court judgment.
- Provincial authorities previously refused requests from Elections Québec to amend language laws, forcing the agency to comply with 2022 legislation making French the sole language of communication for public institutions.
- Elections Québec Director Jean-François Blanchet warned of "significant consequences" for democracy, arguing that unilingual documents create barriers for anglophones and allophones potentially discouraging voter participation.
- Lussier partially accepted a provisional interlocutory injunction for 10 days, ruling it "unrealistic and extremely costly" to order production of other voter documents at this stage.
- Since the mail rollout falls outside the 10-day injunction period, another judicial process will be required to order the actual mailing of the documents, leaving distribution uncertain.
16 Articles
16 Articles
Élections Québec will be forced to organize the sending of reminder cards in English in preparation for the October 5 election.
Partial victory in lawsuit over French-only Quebec election voting mailouts
Quebec Superior Court ordered Elections Quebec to send reminder cards in both French and English. The court also ruled that it would not force the agency to resend the original voter information cards, which were sent in French only.
Élections Québec asked government to change French-language laws in 2023
Élections Québec knew it would not be allowed to send voter information in English over a year before the electoral campaign, The Canadian Press has learned. The provincial election authority had tried to pressure the government to amend its language laws – even providing proposed wording – but the government refused, according to correspondence sent between April 2023 and June 2025. The deadline for Élections Québec to finalize its voting remi…
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