Quebec Conservatives, without a seat after election, seek recount in Beauce
Candidate lost by about 200 votes, more than 370 ballots were rejected
Left without a seat at the National Assembly following Monday's provincial election, the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) is seeking a recount in the Beauce region, where one of its candidates finished second in a tight race.
PCQ candidate Olivier Dumais lost to Luc Provençal, the incumbent with the Coalition Avenir Québec, by 202 votes in the riding of Beauce-Nord.
According to Élections Quebec, 372 out of 33,963 ballots were tossed out, about one per cent of the votes cast.
Dumais says the number of rejected ballots is high.
"We think it's a lot. I don't know if it's common or if it's normal, but those votes can make a difference," Dumais told Radio-Canada on Tuesday. "What happened? Should those have been cancelled? It's a good question."
The PCQ failed to win a single seat in the election despite receiving 12.91 per cent of the popular vote. The Liberal Party of Quebec finished with 14.37 per cent of the vote and won 21 seats.
The CAQ scored a landslide victory in Monday's election, winning 90 out of 125 seats — the highest seat total in decades — with about 41 per cent of the vote.
The Quebec Conservatives also finished second in the Beauce-Sud riding. Although the margin was only 425 votes, no recount was requested.
With files from Radio-Canada