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Lawyers are preparing a formal letter to Élections Québec and the Attorney General after the agency instructed poll workers to limit their use of English with voters on voting days.
Lawyers are preparing to send a formal letter to Élections Québec and the Attorney General after the province's independent electoral agency instructed workers to limit their use of English with voters at polling stations on voting days.
Poll Workers Face English Limits
Poll Workers Directed to Limit English Use The move comes after an Élections Québec poll worker anonymously told CTV News that employees could speak to voters in English only if they say they have an English eligibility certificate or are Indigenous. The lawyers preparing the formal letter are also involved in an ongoing legal challenge against the Director General of Élections Québec and the Attorney General of Quebec over French-only election mailouts.
The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, Geoffrey Chambers, told CTV News he was disappointed to learn of the directive to poll workers. 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 said.
The letter will formally ask Élections Québec to suspend the practice of instructing workers to limit their use of English at polling stations and allow employees to communicate with voters in English under any circumstances, as they have in previous elections. The demand will also include a deadline, although that deadline was not disclosed to CTV News.
Legal Challenge Seeks Voter Rights
Legal Challenge Targets English Voting Rights Chambers said if Élections Québec does not comply, the lawyers will ask the court to add the issue to the ongoing lawsuit and seek to prohibit both practices. 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, Chambers said.
It will make the election much less efficient, to the point where possibly the election's results could be called into question, he added. The directive was made public after the provincial government filed an application seeking to appeal a ruling that ordered Élections Québec to send voter reminder cards in English and French for the election by suspending the province's language law, Bill 96.
The government's request is expected to be heard by the Quebec Court of Appeal on the same day as the election, on Oct. 5. I'm entirely disappointed Élections Québec didn't recognize, based on the court's ruling on the first move, that this would compromise the rights of the English-speaking population, Chambers said. It's another example that they are changing a long-established practice, he added.
CP24 
CTVNews:Lawyers to challenge limits on English at Elections Quebec polling stations 
CTVToronto:Lawyers to challenge limits on English at Elections Quebec polling stationsThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
English Language Rights Quebec Election Bill 96 Court Challenge English Voting Rights Geoffrey Chambers
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