Picky Elections Montreal!
I noted a few days back that I was registered to vote according to Elections Quebec, but Elections Montreal still insisted that my information “did not correspond.”
I tried again just now, and still nope. And then something occurred to me.
My surname is McDonnell. But in documents from Quebec, often it turns up as Mc Donnell. I don’t think of the name as having a space there, but some francophone systems do.
I once had to proofread an entire document in which all the Mc and Mac names had spaces. I queried this but was told it was what they wanted.
So I inserted the space, and bob’s your uncle. I can vote.
CE 19:40 on 2025-10-12 Permalink
I checked for my girlfriend and it said she wasn’t registered until I put her middle name in. Mine, however, didn’t require a middle name.
Kate 20:31 on 2025-10-12 Permalink
If she previously registered using a document that included her middle name, she’ll probably have to remember to go on using it when she votes. Computer systems can be maddeningly literal sometimes.
jeather 21:24 on 2025-10-12 Permalink
That’s a surprising result, I have to say.
Nicholas 22:31 on 2025-10-12 Permalink
Fyi, there is no point updating that. Changes get merged back in to the original source, but since the original source for the list, Elections Quebec, is right, the change would do nothing, and the local list gets destroyed after the election. Worst case they make you swear an oath that the name differs slightly.
DeWolf 10:45 on 2025-10-13 Permalink
Thanks for the advice Kate and CE! My wife thought she wasn’t registered to vote but when she put her first and middle names together, it turns out she is registered after all.
Ian 10:50 on 2025-10-13 Permalink
I just checked to be sure, now I have another “Montreal English” phrase for the list:
civic number
Nicholas 13:23 on 2025-10-13 Permalink
Civic number is used by Canada Post.
Ian 12:13 on 2025-10-14 Permalink
Indeed they do, Which is interesting to me as most other English docs call it your street address.
Kate 12:38 on 2025-10-14 Permalink
Except that the Elections Montreal site just wants your address number, not the entire address.
Joey 13:59 on 2025-10-14 Permalink
They don’t ask for your street because they can infer it from your postal code, which they do ask for. This is pretty common, especially for provincial websites (how many iterations of Rue Principale exist with all kinds of configurations across the province?)…
Ian 15:40 on 2025-10-14 Permalink
That’s actually something that is considered in form design UX. Anything you can infer should be removed.
If I know your postal code, I don’t need to know your street name, city, or province.
With the first 3 characters of your postal code and your street address number you shouldn’t have to enter in any other location info at all.
MarcG 15:54 on 2025-10-14 Permalink
You need the full postal code since the first 3 letters covers quite a large area that will likely have overlapping civic numbers. This is how the Info Collects form works https://montreal.ca/en/info-collections (note they go with “municipal street number”).
Ian 19:26 on 2025-10-14 Permalink
Good point. I was thinking within riding maps but you’re right.