Muslim women will have to remove face coverings to vote in Quebec election
Associated Press, Friday, March 23
MONTREAL--Muslim women will have to remove face-covering veils if they want to vote in Monday's Quebec election, a government official said Friday in a decision that further stoked concerns over how Muslims are treated in the predominantly Roman Catholic, French-speaking province. Marcel Blanchet had been criticized by Quebec's three main political leaders for allowing voters to wear the niqab, which covers the entire face except for the eyes, and cast their ballots if they signed a sworn statement and showed proper ID.
Reversing his earlier decision, Blanchet said he was exercising his authority to amend articles in the electoral law to avoid disruptions when residents go to the polls. Prior to the amendment, the law did not include any provisions barring voters from covering their faces. "Relevant articles to electoral laws were modified to add the following: any person showing up at a polling station must be uncovered to exercise the right to vote," said Blanchet, who was assigned bodyguards after having received threatening phone calls and e-mails from voters outraged over his initial decision. Some voters threatened to protest by showing up at polling stations wearing masks.
The reversal was condemned by Muslim groups, who said the decision could turn some of their members away from the polls. "I am so saddened, I doubt many of these women will show up at the polls on Monday after all this mockery," said Sarah Elgazzar of the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations. "It's insulting." Muslim groups pointed out that the Canadian Armed Forces and police departments in other Canadian cities allow women to wear the headscarf on active duty.
Friday's decision also came on the heels of a number of other high profile cases that highlighted what Muslims in the province have said is a growing bias against them. Last month, an 11-year-old Muslim girl from Ontario participating in a soccer tournament in Quebec was pulled off the field after she refused the referee's request to remove her headscarf. And in January, the small town of Herouxville in central Quebec drew international attention when it adopted a declaration of "norms" that advise immigrants how to fit in, including a ban on face coverings other than on the Halloween holiday.