Polling stations are open across Quebec today as residents head to the polls to elect their local leadership in municipal elections.
While Élections Québec warned of mail delivery delays due to a contract dispute at Canada Post, many voters should have already received their voter information cards.
A voter card lets you know when and where to vote and confirms whether you are registered on the voter register.
Citizens are reminded to check their eligibility to vote, confirm their names on the voter list, and bring proper identification to the polling station.
After the October 3 deadline for municipal candidates to enter the ring, many were elected OK.
According to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, 568 mayoral seats and 4,034 municipal council seats were filled by candidates elected unopposed.
Among them were at least 14 mayors of Greater Montreal, including the mayors of Kirkland and Dollard-des-Ormeaux.
This leaves voters with 523 mayors and 2,761 municipal councillors.
In Montreal, where Valérie Plante is retiring after two terms, Montrealers are guaranteed to have a new mayor in charge of Canada's second-largest city, whose budget last year was $7.3 billion.
Advance voting and other voting methods have already been implemented in many municipalities. Sunday closing at 8pmin most jurisdictions. The City of Gatineau announced that polling stations will remain open until 8:30 p.m. after some polling stations experienced computer problems this morning.
Results will begin to be announced as ballots are counted. CBC will be live tonight starting at 8:00 pm on TV, radio and online.
You can find our election coverage on CBC TV and CBC Radio One or stream it on CBC gem, CBC Listen, YouTube or CBC News Quebec streaming channel.
Voter turnout
38.7 per cent of eligible voters took part in the latest municipal elections in Quebec, compared with participation rates ranging from 44.8 to 47.2 per cent in the four previous elections.
Participation rates were similar in Montreal, with just 38 per cent of all eligible voters in the city casting a ballot in 2021, down four percentage points from the paltry number recorded eight years ago.
As of 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Élections Montréal estimated voter turnout was around 17 per cent.
While getting voters out the door isn't always an easy task, adding a transit strike to the mix could have an impact in Montreal, according to Élections Québec spokesperson Julie Saint-Arnaud Drolet.
“It's definitely an added hurdle,” she told Radio-Canada. “We know that voter turnout in municipal elections is already, shall we say, inconsistent.”
However, she noted that polling stations are usually located within walking distance of voters' homes. Saint-Arnaud Drolet recommended carpooling with neighbors as a possible option.
