Voter reminder cards may not be arriving as usual with postal service out
Quebec’s Chief Electoral Officer Jean-François Blanchet has made a special decision to allow municipalities to deliver election-related documents by means other than direct delivery to voters during the 2025 municipal general election. Blanchet says the decision was necessary given the current disruption to postal services.
“Postal services are a key element of the electoral process,” Blanchet said in a statement issued by his office.
“In the current context, municipalities, responsible for organizing their elections, will have to make considerable additional efforts to find other solutions,” he said. “I urge voters to be understanding and take the time to contact their municipality to obtain all the information they need to exercise their right to vote.”
Alternative measures
Blanchet said his decision would not prevent municipalities from delivering their documents by mail if the strike ends quickly and postal services resume as normal. But in the meantime, the chief electoral officer’s office is proposing various alternative measures.
If municipalities are able to, they are being encouraged to prioritize a solution that will ensure the delivery of two documents to voters’ doors, in accordance with the spirit of the electoral act: the notice of registration on the voters’ list and the reminder card.
The municipalities are being told they can use another delivery service or rely on their staff or a group of volunteers, for example. If they are unable to distribute personalized registration notices in the name of each voter, they can distribute a non-personalized notice to each door.
They should then allow voters to verify in person their registration on the voters’ lists, but also by telephone or online. They can also disseminate general information through posters, advertisements and their websites. If municipalities with 20,000 or more inhabitants are unable to deliver their reminder cards to voters’ doors, they must allow them to verify their polling place by telephone, according to the chief electoral officer.
Mandatory Mailings
Under the legislation respecting elections and referendums in Quebec’s municipalities, all towns and cities are required to send a notice of registration by mail to all addresses in their territory. This notice indicates the names of the electors registered on the lists of electors at each address. It may also indicate that no one is registered at that address. It also indicates where and when the board of revisors will sit. This notice should be sent between October 6 and 15, depending on the municipality.
Nearly 92 per cent of Quebec’s approximately 6.4 million electors are registered on the list of electors. Nearly 98 per cent of them are registered at the correct address. Between October 11 and 21, each municipality must hold at least two electoral list revision meetings to allow voters to register or change their registration if necessary. The locations, dates and times vary from one municipality to another.
Owners and co-owners
Élections Québec invites voters to use its online service to check their registration on the provincial electoral list. The majority of people registered on this list are also registered at the same address on their municipality’s electoral lists. However, this is not the case for people who are eligible to vote as owners or co-owners of a building or as occupants or co-occupants of a business establishment within the municipality.
In addition, anyone who has changed their address and modified their registration on the electoral list since September 5, including through the Quebec Change of Address Service (SQCA), must contact their municipality to make this change of address, even if the information is up to date on the Élections Québec website.
Make sure you are registered
Voters should not assume that they are registered on their municipality’s electoral lists, even if they voted in the last federal election, since the electoral lists used in the upcoming election are separate. No one will be able to make changes to the electoral rolls on election day. This is an important difference between federal and municipal elections.
To be eligible to vote in the 2025 municipal elections, you must meet these five conditions on the November 2, election day:
Be registered on the electoral lists of your municipality; Be 18 years of age or older; Be a Canadian citizen; Be in one of the following situations: domiciled in the municipality and, for at least 6 months, in Quebec; Be the owner of a building in the municipality or the occupant of a business establishment located within the municipality for at least 45 days. 5. And still have the right to vote (unless it has been revoked because of non-residency or other reason).
