In this section
Introduction
Our election system is at the heart of our democracy. However, it faces a number of challenges that we need to think about collectively. The Election Act was last revised in 1989. This law has been amended several times over the years, but has never been the subject of a comprehensive review. We believe that the rules governing elections need to be reviewed, and that solutions need to be found to adapt the Act to modern issues.
Election Act
The Election Act governs Québec provincial elections. It includes provisions governing the drawing up of the electoral list, the conduct of voting days, the financing of political parties, the control of election expenses and the delimitation of electoral divisions, among other things.
Our mission is to organize elections and ensure their integrity by respecting and applying the Election Act. We can also recommend amendments to the law. However, only the elected members of the Assemblée nationale have the power to amend it.
Recommendations
Our recommendations report (PDF – in French) aims to better respond to the current challenges and needs of electors and election stakeholders. It contains 30 proposed legislative amendments for the members of the Assemblée nationale. In this way, we want to ensure that our elections remain effective, fair, honest and transparent in the future.
Like the consultation document, our recommendations report deals with six major themes associated with the various components of the Election Act. Each of these themes is presented in a web page that summarizes the issues and recommendations associated with it:
- Right to vote (in French)
- Right to run for an election (in French)
- Financing (in French)
- Electoral and political information (in French)
- Electoral governance (in French)
- Electoral map (in French)
For each theme, our report also presents a brief summary of the comments received during the consultations, as well as actions that do not require changes to the Act and that our institution intends to take.
We hope that this report will lead to an in-depth update of the Election Act, to be carried forward by the members of the Assemblée nationale.
Approach
At the start of the process, Élections Québec teams undertook a comprehensive review of the Election Act, with a view to formulating proposals for updating all its components. Our main findings and suggestions for improvement can be found in the For a new vision of the Election Act: consultation document (PDF – in French). This document was a way of inviting the public to take part in our discussions.
In the spirit of democracy, we consulted citizens, political players, academics, electoral specialists and civil society organizations. Interested parties could participate in two ways: by answering the thematic questionnaires of their choice, or by filing a document. We also held meetings with various groups to discuss the issues faced by our election system and solutions that could be introduced.
Our teams then analyzed all the proposals received to provide input for the final report. Our recommendations report (in French – PDF) is the result of the contribution of various election stakeholders, including electors, as well as the expertise of Élections Québec employees.
Steps in the process
- Filing of the consultation document at the Assemblée nationale (October 5, 2023)
- Political stakeholders’ consultation (fall 2023 to winter 2024)
- Public consultation (from November 20, 2023, to March 30, 2024)
- Consultation with academics and specialists (winter 2024)
- Post-mortem and recommendations (November 21, 2024)