A Quebec court has approved Parti Québécois’ plea for a judicial recount in the Champlain riding due to reported missing ballots, as confirmed by Élections Québec. The recount is scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
Last week, the PQ requested a vote re-tally for the Mauricie-based riding, alleging that 110 ballots had gone missing from two ballot boxes.
Following election night, the PQ contender in Champlain, René Branchaud, faced a defeat by Quebec Conservative Adriana Szalontai, with a close margin of 191 votes or 0.44 percentage points.
According to election regulations, a recount can be sought if the gap between the top two candidates is below one-thousandth of the total votes cast.
The court’s ruling signifies that the judge was swayed by the PQ’s plea to clarify the situation, despite the victory margin exceeding the legal threshold.
Additionally, a judicial recount is in progress in the Vachon riding in the Montérégie area, with the outcome anticipated Wednesday, as per Élections Québec.
In the Longueuil riding, a judge has approved the PQ’s petition for a recount after Liberal Affine Lwalalika narrowly surpassed PQ candidate Stephan Fogaing by a mere 10 votes.
