MONTREAL — A Superior Court judge has dismissed a request from a Bloc Québécois candidate for a new election in the Terrebonne riding, which was won by the federal Liberals by just one vote in April. Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, who finished second, contested the election results after a Bloc voter reported that her special ballot was returned due to an address error on the envelope provided by Elections Canada.

Sinclair-Desgagné argued that this error constituted an irregularity that affected the election outcome. However, in a ruling issued on Monday, Justice Éric Dufour stated that the postal code mistake did not meet the legal definition of an irregularity under federal electoral law. "It is a simple human error, which sometimes occurs in general elections, committed inadvertently and without any dishonest or malicious intent," the judge wrote. He added that this error did not undermine the integrity of the Canadian electoral system.

The April 28 general election resulted in the Liberals forming a minority government under Prime Minister Mark Carney. Initially, Liberal candidate Tatiana Auguste was declared the winner, but the results changed in favor of Sinclair-Desgagné after a validation process. A judicial recount on May 10 confirmed that the Liberals received 23,352 votes, one more than Sinclair-Desgagné.

Following the close election, Emmanuelle Bossé, a local voter, revealed that her Bloc vote was not counted because her special ballot was returned due to an address error. Sworn statements indicated that an election worker had mistakenly printed his own postal code on several special ballots weeks before the election. He estimated that at least 40 envelopes were affected. The worker did not report the mistake, believing the number of returned ballots was consistent with previous elections.

Sinclair-Desgagné's attorney, Stéphane Chatigny, contended that Bossé's Charter rights were violated because her vote was not counted. In contrast, Marc-Étienne Vien, representing Auguste, argued that canceling the election would be unreasonable and disenfranchise the many voters in the Terrebonne riding.

During the hearing, a lawyer for Elections Canada acknowledged the error but referenced a 2012 Supreme Court of Canada ruling that established a high threshold for annulling elections based on administrative mistakes. Justice Dufour concluded that even if the error were considered an irregularity, it would still be unreasonable to annul the election since it did not prevent Bossé from voting.

The judge also concurred with the Liberal MP's lawyer that overturning the election results would strip the democratic rights of those who participated. He warned that broadening the definition of election irregularity to include administrative errors could lead to numerous challenges. Dufour stated that election cancellations should only occur in the most serious cases, and this situation did not meet that standard.

A spokesperson for the Bloc Québécois indicated that the party was reviewing the 27-page decision but did not provide immediate comments. Currently, the Liberals hold 169 seats in the House of Commons, just short of the 172 needed for a majority, while the Bloc Québécois has 22 seats.