The Bloc Québécois is expected to launch a legal challenge against the judicial recount that saw the party lose the federal riding of Terrebonne by one vote after a mailing error led to a special ballot not being counted.
Radio-Canada sources say Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet will announce the party’s intentions this morning. He will be holding a news conference at 11 a.m. in Ottawa with Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné — the party’s candidate in the riding — and Bloc MP Christine Normandin.
The announcement comes a day after Elections Canada declared that the result of a recount in Terrebonne is final, despite a misprint that led to one special ballot being returned to sender.
Elections Canada investigated after Terrebonne resident Emmanuelle Bossé came forward with an envelope that contained a vote for the Bloc Québécois which had been returned to sender.
Results on election night indicated that Liberal MP Tatiana Auguste won the riding by 35 votes. After a standard validation process, the seat flipped temporarily to Sinclair-Desgagné by 44 votes. A judicial recount then found the Liberals had won, but only by a single vote.
The independent agency said that this is the only case they know of in the recent election of an envelope containing a marked ballot being returned to a voter because of an incorrect address.
