COVID-19 - Adjustments due to the pandemic: Postponement of general school elections for English-language school boards

QUÉBEC CITY, Nov. 26, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - To ensure that school elections during the COVID-19 pandemic take place in a safe manner, and to respect the moral contract proposed by the Québec Premier, the Ministère de l'Éducation is announcing that the school election process and the vote that was to take place on December 20 have been postponed.

This adjustment is valid for all school boards and, in the few cases where positions were to be filled in the elections originally scheduled, the outgoing commissioners/chairs will remain in their positions until the elections are held. The new date for these will soon be announced, but given the highly unpredictable nature of the pandemic, the government anticipates that they will be put off for several months. To support the school boards, the Protocole sanitaire visant à réduire les risques de propagation de la COVID-19 lors de la tenue de toute élection scolaire (health protocol for reducing the risk of spreading COVID-19 during school elections) and the Guide d'application du vote par correspondance (implementation guide for mail-in votes) will be updated when procedures resume. (Both documents are available in French only.)

Highlights:

• It should be noted that the election of chairs and commissioners in English-language school boards should have taken place on November 1, 2020. However, because all the positions to be filled by an election were located in red zones, no elections were held on that date.
• The elections were to take place on December 20 for all school boards.
• Of the nine chair positions to be filled, six candidates were elected without opposition and took office on November 6, 2020. As a result, two positions still need to be decided by an election, and one position remains vacant. In the case of the vacant position, a new election process will be undertaken at a later date.
• Of the 95 commissioner positions, 83 were elected without opposition, 7 must be decided by an election, and 5 remain vacant. In the case of the vacant positions, a new election process must likewise be undertaken at a later date.

Related links:

Consult the web page on school elections

SOURCE Ministère de l'Éducation