Emmanuelle Bossé's mail-in ballot for the April federal election was returned to her due to a postal code error by Elections Canada.Andrej Ivanov/The Globe and Mail

“Every vote counts” has long been a slogan for those urging participation in the democratic process. But those three words − with a question mark − are now shaping up to be a legal question that could ultimately trigger a by-election in the Quebec riding of Terrebonne.

The result, after all the official counting was done, was as close as it could be: Liberal candidate Tatiana Auguste received 23,352 votes in a judicial recount, just one more than her Bloc Québécois opponent Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné.

Even with that tiniest of victory margins, that would have given the seat to Ms. Auguste and the Liberals – except that riding resident Emmanuelle Bossé then went public with her claim that her mail-in ballot, with a vote for the Bloc, was returned to her on May 2. Elections Canada had used an incorrect postal code for a self-addressed return envelope.

Ms. Bossé has told reporters that she put her ballot in the mail on April 5, well ahead of the April 22 deadline for it to be received by Elections Canada. That ballot was returned to her........

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