One of the five McGill University students who put forth a court challenge asking for the right to vote in the Quebec election is eligible to cast a ballot, a Montreal judge has ruled.
The judge ruled that Quebec Green Party candidate Brendan Edge can vote in the provincial election, but not the other four students. Edge is running in the riding of Chomedey.
Earlier Friday, lawyer Julius Grey requested an injunction to permit the students to vote. Thursday is the final day in Quebec to revise the list of registered electors before Quebecers head to the polls on Monday.
Lawyers for Quebec’s Director General of Elections argued that the students aren’t being denied the right to vote, but that they were never on the voter’s list and never retained the right to vote.
All of the students are Canadian citizens who have been living in Quebec for at least eight months. Some of them have been issued Quebec health cards.
The judge said the four other students were not eligible to vote on Monday because it was not clear how long they have lived in Quebec.
Following the ruling, McGill student Matthew Satterthwaite said he was “very disappointed” by the outcome in court.
“The fact that somebody that is interested in coming forward looking for the right to vote and is being denied that right -- I find that extremely disappointing,” Satterthwaite said in an interview on CTV’s Power Play.
Satterthwaite said there was debate in court over his eligibility because he has Ontario ID cards. Satterthwait said he does not have a Quebec health card or Quebec driver’s licence.
During the campaign, the Parti Quebecois voiced concern about reports of an increased number of Anglophones -- including out-of-province university students -- trying to register to vote in the election in order to sway the vote.
Edge called the accusations “fear tactics.”
“Not all out-of-province students are anglo,” Edge said on Power Play. “The number of students that are out-of-province and are eligible to vote could not steal an election or steal it away from the PQ.”
Edge said he thinks the PQ’s handling of the tuition crisis last year is souring the students on the party.
“I think that they lost the faith of not just out-of-province students, but Quebec students as well,” he said.
