Bloc Québécois voter’s mail-in ballot was returned to sender after the election
Elections Canada said the return address printed on this elector’s return envelope was incorrect — specifically, part of the postal code.
Courts could force byelection, expert says
But Ara Karaboghossian, professor of political science at Vanier College, says there’s a chance this saga isn’t over. He said the election could be contested through Elections Canada’s contested elections process. He said irregularities can be the basis for contesting a decision
“It says that if there is any type of irregularity that has an effect on the result, then the person can actually contest,” said Karaboghossian. “The elector can contest. A candidate can contest. It’s open to anybody.”
The case will hinge on what an irregularity is, but it seems to Karaboghossian that a misprint on a self-addressed, stamped envelope could fall into that category.
Good news for Bloc Québécois
FPTP ultimately is anti-hope; it’s built functionally so that, pragmatically, you’re generally not voting for the people you like the best, you’re voting against the person you like the least. And it ultimately renders MPs/MLAs useless and performative frequently.
The whole thing is pretty messy when you get into it. Thankfully here we aren’t Electoral College awful (where a single vote can potentially move ~50 seats one way or the other in a comparable situation), but that implies the bar is on the floor.
We can do better, even incrementally.