(Montreal) Élections Québec is preparing an online voting pilot for the 2025 municipal elections with the aim of making voting more accessible.
Posted at 6:26
This voting method would be offered to a limited number of voters from about fifteen communities, so the process would be careful and gradual.
Each municipality would be responsible for its elections, but Élections Québec would lead the choice of provider and the implementation and management of the platform. The chosen digital solution should also meet numerous security and accessibility requirements.
The internet voting would take place over two three-day voting periods. It would be offered 24 hours a day, but not on pre-election days or election day.
The approximately 15 municipalities participating in the pilot project must have at least 20,000 inhabitants. They must have different profiles and be distributed across the different administrative regions of Quebec to provide an overall picture of the internet voting experience in the different regions.
In order to be able to participate in the pilot project, a municipality must first confirm its interest through a resolution of its municipal council. The applications are then analyzed.
So far, at least four municipalities have expressed an interest in participating in the pilot project: Beloeil in Montérégie, Lévis, Magog and Laval.
Louise Lortie, municipal councilor of the Marc-Aurèle-Fortin district in Laval, explains that all means aimed at facilitating access to voting and increasing participation in elections should be studied.
In the local elections in Laval in 2021, the turnout was 28%.