Bloc member who lost by 1 vote in Montreal-area riding considers ‘all options’ after report of ballot problem

The Bloc Québécois candidate for the Montreal-area riding of Terrebonne says she’s evaluating her options after a judicial recount that saw her lose by a single vote.

Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné’s statement comes as Elections Canada investigates a possible error involving an uncounted mail-in ballot from a Bloc voter in the Terrebonne riding.

Voter Emmanuelle Bossé told Montreal media that she mailed in her ballot in early April using an addressed envelope provided by Elections Canada, but it was returned to her as undeliverable.

READ: Reaction from Terrebonne after Liberals win riding by one vote after recount

Elections Canada confirmed that it is aware of the situation. According to preliminary findings, there was an error in the return address—specifically, the postal code—printed on the return envelope.

“We continue to look into the situation in Terrebonne and gather the facts necessary to do a full analysis,” they told CityNews in an email.

“For now, our analysis shows that this was an isolated incident,” they added. “Regardless, we will speak to the issue in more detail in our post-election reporting. As we continue to conduct our analysis.”

“Beyond this, we are also committing to a more comprehensive review of special ballot voting, with the goal of ensuring that issues like these don’t happen again,” Elections Canada said.

In the wake of these revelations, Sinclair Desgagné had already posted on social media that she was evaluating her options. On Wednesday morning, her party did the same.

“We are very concerned by an irregularity revealed in the mail-in ballot during the general election in the riding of Terrebonne,” the Bloc Québécois wrote in a statement.

“This irregularity would have had an impact on the election result, and we are awaiting full information from Elections Canada regarding this situation in the coming days.”

The party stated that it “will take the necessary steps to ensure that the votes of all voters in the riding of Terrebonne who legally exercised this right are taken into account.”

“The right to vote is a fundamental democratic right, and we must ensure that it has been and will be fully respected. In this regard, we are currently studying all options,” the Bloc added.

The results in the Terrebonne riding have been the scene of many twists and turns since election night.

The results initially showed Auguste winning by 35 votes. However, following the post-election validation process, Sinclair Desgagné took the lead by 44 votes on May 1st.

Due to the narrow margin between the two candidates, a judicial recount was held. It ultimately gave Auguste the victory by one vote, 23,352 to 23,351.

The final result brought the Liberals to 170 seats in the House of Commons, two short of the 172 needed to form a majority government. The Bloc Québécois’s seat total, however, fell to 22.

Both parties declined to comment, and Sinclair-Desgagné’s statement did not specifically mention the uncounted ballot.

“Following a judicial recount that caused a vote reversal as spectacular as unexpected, I owe it to myself to evaluate all the options before us,” Sinclair-Desgagné wrote on Facebook on Monday, adding, “I’ll keep you updated on the next steps.”

Other judicial recounts are underway elsewhere in the country.