EDITORIAL: Every vote counts. Just not this one

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The electoral chaos in the Montreal-area riding of Terrebonne raises serious questions about the voting process.

On election night, April 28, Bloc Québécois candidate Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagne was the apparent winner by a 35-vote margin. A subsequent validation process showed she led by 44 votes. That whisker-thin majority forced a judicial recount and her Liberal opponent, Tatiana Auguste, was declared the winner by just one vote.

This outcome was declared final and caused much commentary about how every vote counts. Indeed, every vote did count. Until it didn’t. It was reported recently that a Bloc voter had her mail-in ballot returned to her four days after the election because of an incorrect address on the pre-printed envelope.

Had that vote been counted, it would have meant a tie. Elections Canada says in that event, the Speaker of the House would have been informed and the likely outcome would have been a byelection in the riding.

Elections Canada now says a further five ballots were returned because they also had erroneous postal codes on their envelopes.

Bloc Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet says his party will go to court seeking a new election in Terrebonne. Let’s skip costly court proceedings. The outcome of the election in Terrebonne is questionable. If Auguste is allowed to take that seat in the House of Commons, she’ll be under a cloud. It would be unfair to both her and to Sinclair-Desgagne.

The only option for Elections Canada is to call a new election. 

Prime Minister Mark Carney has only a minority government. It’s not just every vote that counts. Every seat counts. As it now stands, the Liberals have 170 seats — two shy of a majority. Conservatives have 143; the Bloc has 22; the NDP has seven and the Green Party has one. There are recounts happening in three other ridings.

Terrebonne’s postal code boondoggle threatens to become this country’s hanging chad mess. In the 2000 U.S. presidential election, Florida’s electoral count was paralyzed by tiny pieces of paper — chads — that were not completely punched out by the voting machines. 

The need for clarity and integrity in voting has never been greater. Elections Canada must call a new election in Terrebonne. And it must do so quickly.