Liberals won Terrebonne, Que., riding by 1 vote — but this woman's Bloc ballot wasn't counted

CBC News

· Posted: May 12, 2025 8:53 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 minutes ago

Elections Canada says it is investigating aft a elector successful a Quebec riding came guardant with an envelope that had been returned to sender.

Inside was a ballot for the Bloc Québécois successful the Terrebonne riding, where, arsenic it stands, incoming Liberal MP Tatiana Auguste was declared the victor by 1 ballot aft respective recounts.

Elections Canada said the instrumentality code printed connected this elector's instrumentality envelope was incorrect — specifically, portion of the postal code.

"We are inactive moving to stitchery each the facts. We volition beryllium capable to get backmost to you arsenic soon arsenic we person much information," the bureau said successful a connection to CBC News.

The voter, however, remains irked by the situation. Terrebonne nonmigratory Emmanuelle Bossé said she sent successful her ballot connected clip for the April 28 national election. 

"I wasn't the 1 who got Elections Canada's code incorrect connected the envelope," she told Radio-Canada. "Elections Canada glued this statement connected the envelope. I had thing to fill. I conscionable had to enactment my ballot successful there." 

She says she mailed her ballot successful connected April 5 and it was returned to her connected May 2. 

Auguste's one-vote triumph was highly unusual, making planetary headlines and attracting important attraction connected societal media, arsenic she appeared to flip a riding agelong held by the Bloc.

On predetermination night, Terrebonne initially went to Auguste by 35 votes. But aft a modular validation process, the effect flipped to the incumbent Bloc Québécois MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, by 44 votes.

This triggered an automatic judicial recount.

A fewer days later, the results of the recount showed that Auguste had won by a azygous vote.

"I deliberation it's a archetypal successful caller history," said governmental commentator Frédéric Bérard.

To recap: connected predetermination day, voters spell to polling stations and formed their ballots. Once the polls close, Elections Canada workers manus number the ballots and study the results to a returning officer. The results are past posted online.

Next comes the validation process.

This is erstwhile Elections Canada double-checks and verifies the numbers reported connected predetermination night, looking for errors oregon discrepancies earlier making the effect official.

A triumph by little than 0.1 per cent of the wide ballot automatically triggers a recount.

"That volition beryllium overseen by a judge, and the candidates, their lawyers, immoderate scrutineers and electoral officials volition each beryllium present," said Holly Ann Garnett, a governmental subject prof astatine Queen's University.

"They're going to spell done each the ballots, recount them and marque definite the tally from predetermination nighttime holds."

During the recount, the justice tin regularisation connected whether to support oregon cull ballots that were disputed due to the fact that they were considered spoiled oregon unclear.

"They'll spell done each of the ballots again truthful everyone has a 2nd look," Garnett said.

Courts could unit byelection, adept says

But Ara Karaboghossian, prof of governmental subject astatine Vanier College, says there's a accidental this saga isn't over. He said the predetermination could beryllium contested through Elections Canada's contested elections process. He said irregularities tin beryllium the ground for contesting a decision 

"It says that if determination is immoderate benignant of irregularity that has an effect connected the result, past the idiosyncratic tin really contest," said Karaboghossian. "The elector tin contest. A campaigner tin contest. It's unfastened to anybody."

The lawsuit volition hinge connected what an irregularity is, but it seems to Karaboghossian that a misprint connected a self-addressed, stamped envelope could autumn into that category.

"For me, that consists of an irregularity," said Karaboghossian. "But the 2nd measurement is to find whether that irregularity affected the result."

An irregularity that doesn't impact the result would beryllium discarded. However, successful this case, 1 ballot would person made a quality successful Terrebonne. Bossé would inactive request to instrumentality Elections Canada to court, and past it volition beryllium a ineligible decision, helium explained.

"This is the absorbing part," Karaboghossian said. "We're successful uncharted waters."

If the tribunal does decide Bossé's Bloc ballot should beryllium counted, "we should person a byelection," helium said. "That would beryllium the logic that would apply, but again, this is wherever the uncharted waters travel in."