Quebecer abroad | A judge orders in Quebec to expand the voting by correspondence

(Quebec) At a time when US President Donald Trump is trying to limit correspondence voting to the south of the border. Similarly, the Superior Court has just made an important decision which will likely have the effect of allowing thousands of Quebecers who live abroad to vote remotely from the election of 2026.

Posted at 12:12 p.m.

This whole story is a bit of a David against Goliath. In addition, David. However, it was Bruno Gélinas-Faucher, who was refused in 2019 his right to vote by correspondence in a Quebec bypass election. For example, He then completed his doctorate in international law at the University of quebecer abroad | judge orders Cambridge. For example, has lived in the United Kingdom for over two years.

The Quebec electoral law is clear: a Quebecer absent for more than two years cannot vote by correspondence. Moreover, even if his official home is still in the province and he intends to return to it. Furthermore, He can however return to the country to put his ballot in the ballot box. Meanwhile, which is extremely complicated and expensive.

Mr. Similarly, Gélinas-Faucher decided to bring the case before the courts. Furthermore, Supported by lawyers from Osler. Meanwhile, Hoskin & Harcourt who worked Pro Bono, he has just won an important victory against the Attorney General of Quebec.

Judge Catherine Piché concludes in a recent judgment that the limit of two years is unconstitutional and “arbitrary”. “This limit is not reasonably necessary to quebecer abroad | judge orders ensure a link between the voter. Quebec, and thus preserve the integrity and equity of the Quebec electoral system,” says the judge.

The Superior Court suspends the limit of two years and gives the government 12 months to rewrite the law.

“The judge gives the government 12 months to do their homework. It would bring us in August 2026. just before the next general elections, “notes Bruno Gélinas-Faucher at the end of the thread, who is now a deputy professor at the Law Faculty of the University of New Brunswick.

“It is a perfect timing to modify. review the rules and that these rules are in place for the next general election of October 2026.”

Quebecer abroad | judge orders

Modified before the 1995 referendum

It. is quebecer abroad | judge orders difficult to know how many Quebecers abroad for more than two could obtain the right to vote by correspondence if the electoral law was modified. They must always have their official home in Quebec. solemnly declare that they want to return to the province one day.

“Students abroad, this is really where we see all the absurdity of the article. But the reasoning of the judge is not limited to students. it also applies to people who are absent for family or professional reasons, “said Gélinas-Faucher.

The Quebec government could now decide to imitate Ottawa. The federal government. which has lost a similar cause in the Supreme Court, simply decided to remove any reference to the duration of the Canadian expatriates when the time comes to vote by correspondence.

Quebec also has 30 days to quebecer abroad | judge orders bring the decision on appeal. “We take note of the judgment and take the time to analyze it. We have no comments to formulate for the moment. “was content to react the cabinet of the Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette.

In a report submitted to the Court. the expert’s expert, the retired professor in political science at Laval Louis Massicotte University notes that the two -year limit in Quebec “a bad framework with the situation prevailing in the democratic countries and the trends of the last three decades”.

The expert had made a review in 2003 among democratic countries. He had found that 30 of the 40 countries where expatriates had the right to vote in the national. elections did not impose any time limit. In the other ten countries, this right was limited for a duration varying between three quebecer abroad | judge orders and twenty years.

The two -year limit for correspondence vote was introduced into Quebec electoral law in 1992. on the eve of the referendum on sovereignty. This limit had previously been set at ten years in 1989.

“However. no evidence was presented in the proceedings of an attack on the integrity or equity of the electoral system between 1989 and 1992, while the old ten -year time limit was in force,” said the judge.

The 1992 modification occurred in a context where Quebec elected officials were particularly concerned with marking the right to vote by correspondence for a possible second referendum on sovereignty. which will finally take place in 1995.

The judge quotes an extract from the debates in the National Assembly, an exit from PQ deputy Guy Chevrette.

“A referendum on the constitutional future of Quebec is decided by Quebecers. Whether we agree. not agree between us, it is decided by someone who wants to live in Quebec, who wants to continue living in Quebec and who wants to influence the life of Quebec, but not by someone who chose another country because he didn’t want Quebec anymore. That, I think we get along on it. This is why. in this sense, I find that it is an improvement (the time limit of 2 years), but it may be necessary to mark out that time, “he said then.

Bruno Gélinas-Faucher was represented by prosecutors Julien Morissette, François Laurin-Pratte, Quentin Montpetit and Rachelle Saint-Laurent.