MONTREAL – High-profile attorney Julius Grey is in the process of filing a legal challenge on behalf of McGill University students who say they were wrongly left off the list of electors.
While Grey would only say in an e-mail that he was representing the students and that a hearing was likely on Wednesday, student organizations who say they’ve been in touch with Grey report the lawsuit involves four McGill undergraduates.
“They feel that they’re domiciled in Quebec, that they meet all the eligibility requirements, they want the right to express their view when the election comes, and be given the right to vote,” said Jonathan Mooney of the Post-Graduate Student Society.
By now, numerous English-speaking students have complained that they have been kept off the voter rolls – many alleging their rights were violated based on arbitrary criteria.
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“We’ve been loaded up with English students,” one elections official was heard saying in a recording dated March 21 from a polling station in St-Henri.
One of the problems is that proof of continuous “domicile” in Quebec, which someone must show for 6 months, is sometimes open to interpretation. Elections officials suggest bringing Hydro bills, driver’s licences and health cards, but while they can be used as proof, they do not guarantee proof of domicile. Sometimes prospective voters can even be asked about their future intentions to stay in the province.
The PGSS at McGill has been trying to help students navigate these issues.
“To find out what are the measures to get domiciled and get the chance to vote in this election,” said Navid Khosravi-Hashemi, of the PGSS. “We’ve been passing this information to our students.”
About a week ago, three Parti Quebecois candidates held a weekend press conference voicing concern that the provincial election ran the risk of being “stolen by students from Ontario,” according to MNA Bertrand St-Arnaud. The PQ said it was worried that ineligible voters were trying to get on the lists.
The proposed charter of values – a major campaign platform of the party – may play a role in getting students to the polls. The prohibitions present in the charter against religious symbols comes across to some as ethnocentric.
“I think a lot of students are frustrated with the PQ administration,” said Mike O’Sullivan, a PhD student originally from Ontario. He claims he was kept off the rolls because he didn’t have a Quebec health card. “We feel they’re trying to pass racist legislation.”
Grey wrote in an e-mail that his lawsuit might be heard on Wednesday.
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