Electoral officer checking campus visits by PQ minister during advance polling

MONTREAL – Quebec’s chief electoral officer is looking into visits to colleges and universities by a Parti Quebecois cabinet minister on advance polling days.

Bernard Drainville has tweeted a number of selfies in recent days, including one that shows him sitting at a table at the Universite de Sherbrooke last Friday talking to a student.

The minister responsible for drafting the controversial values charter can be seen holding what appears to be PQ election pamphlets.

This is the first year that students at junior colleges and universities have been allowed to vote on campus.

Article 352 of the Quebec Elections Act states nobody can indicate political affiliation on the premises of a polling station or engage in partisan advertising.

Stephanie Isabel, a spokeswoman for the chief electoral officer, says an investigation is underway into Drainville’s visit. PQ leader Pauline Marois defended her minister today, saying he was acting in good faith.

Isabel said one polling station has been set up in every institution where there are 300 eligible voters and that the students need to be enrolled in the institution.