Quebec Lawyers Challenge English Limits at Polling Stations

Élections Québec has instructed polling workers to limit speaking English with voters unless they meet specific criteria, a directive that has sharpened a broader dispute over language access in the province’s electoral process.

Workers must confirm whether a voter is eligible to receive education in English or is Indigenous before speaking English. If those criteria are not met, the conversation is to continue in French.

What Poll Workers Must Ask

Élections Québec says the instruction reflects its obligations under the Charter of the French Language. The agency says it relies on a voter’s own statement and does not require certification or other proof before providing service in English.

“It’s not our decision; we must respect the law,” Élections Québec spokesperson Julie St-Arnaud-Drolet said in an email statement, adding that the agency is applying what elected officials have “decided and written into the charter.”

The direction has unsettled anglophone advocates and voters already watching a legal fight over the language of election communications.

An anonymous poll worker told CTV News the instruction was unprecedented in their experience. “It floored me when I read it; I could not believe it,” the worker said. “It’s scary that they have this much control. What’s going to happen next?”

Legal Challenge Could Expand

Geoffrey Chambers, the lead plaintiff in a legal challenge involving the language of election mailouts, said he was disappointed by the directive. He argues it violates the rights of English-speaking voters and could discourage people from casting a ballot.

“We’re very disappointed to learn that they were going to proceed with a practice which is really going to discourage electors at the voting station,” Chambers told CTV News.

Chambers also warned that the procedure could affect the functioning of voting day. “The chief electoral officers have instituted new practices that are, in our view, in violation of the Constitution, and certainly in violation of the rights of the English-speaking voters,” he said.

According to CTV News, Chambers’ lawyers plan to send Élections Québec and Quebec’s Attorney General a formal letter demanding the practice be suspended. The lawyers also plan to seek permission for polling workers to communicate with voters in English under any circumstances.

Advocates See Barriers to Voting

The Task Force on Linguistic Policy’s president, Andrew Caddell, condemned the policy in comments reported by CTV News, calling the direction “disgraceful.”

Sylvia Martin-Laforge, director general of the English-language rights group TALQ, said the directive would limit English-speaking Quebecers’ ability to exercise their voting rights in an informed way. She urged Élections Québec to remove barriers rather than force advocates into repeated court challenges.

“We really hope that we do not have to litigate every single aspect of the electoral process for the Director General of Elections to respect our rights,” Martin-Laforge said. “This has never been the case.”

Élections Québec, however, maintains that it must follow the Charter of the French Language and that the policy is required by law, rather than being an agency choice.

Bilingual Cards Remain Expected

The language-service directive arrives as Quebec seeks leave to appeal a court ruling that ordered Elections Québec to send voter reminder cards in both English and French by suspending Bill 96. The appeal is scheduled for Oct. 5.

Despite the continuing legal dispute, Head Topics reported that bilingual voter reminder cards are still expected to be sent for the Oct. 5 election cycle.

For Chambers and other critics, the two issues are linked by a central concern: whether English-speaking voters can receive the information and assistance they need without added obstacles. “It’s another example that they are changing a long-established practice,” Chambers said.

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