Elections Canada confirms ‘error’ on label of special ballot in Terrebonne riding where Liberals won by 1 vote

Elections Canada is confirming there was an “error” on the label of a special ballot envelope in the Montreal-area riding of Terrebonne — where the Liberal candidate defeated the Bloc Québécois by a single vote.

The uncounted mail-in ballot is said to be from a Bloc voter in the riding.

Elections Canada confirmed the error was in the last three characters of the postal code of the office’s address — but that their analysis finds this was an isolated incident.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Bloc Québécois said they’re concerned and in a statement added: “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.”

Liberal Tatiana Auguste was declared the winner on Saturday by a one-vote margin over Bloc candidate Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné

Auguste was initially projected to win the riding by 35 votes after the election, but Sinclair-Desgagné, who was first elected in 2021, moved ahead by 44 votes following the required postelection validation process.

The win was returned to Auguste on Saturday following the judicial recount.

The Bloc stated 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 Chief Electoral Officer, Stéphane Perrault, recently announced that he is broadening Elections Canada’s review of the special ballot voting system, after a separate incident took place in the electoral district of Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam.

Elections Canada says a comprehensive review will allow them to evaluate the training provided to employees and the controls that are in place for processing special ballots, with the intent to make improvements before the next general election.

“We must recognize that, with the evolution of the demand for special ballots, we need to make sure our supporting infrastructure and controls also evolve,” said Perrault, in a press release. “One of the strengths of our system is that it does evolve over time to meet the changing needs of Canadians. This review is an opportunity to determine what needs to be improved to continue serving Canadians.”