Quebec Polls Close - Charest Hopes for Rare Third Mandate

Charest hopes for rare third mandate in Quebec

Updated Mon. Dec. 8 2008 8:08 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

The polls have closed and votes are being tallied in the Quebec provincial election, with Liberal Leader Jean Charest hoping for a third mandate to steer the province through its economic troubles.

If Charest wins, he would be the first premier to secure three straight election victories in the province since Maurice Duplessis in 1952.

Charest urged voters to give him a majority government, saying that Quebec needs a stable government to weather the economic storm raging around the world. The chaos on Parliament Hill, with federal parties fighting over the fiscal update, may have helped Charest's cause for stability.

Charest first became premier in 2003 and won a majority government with 76 of 125 seats. But in 2007, Mario Dumont led a surging Action democratique du Quebec to win 41 seats, leaving Charest with 48 and a weakened mandate. The Parti Quebecois won 36 seats.

It was a huge accomplishment for Dumont, whose party had only managed to secure 4 seats in 2003.

Bitter cold gripped much of the province on Monday, making it the coldest election day since 1944. Unconfirmed reports suggested voter turnout would be on the low side, according to CTV's Genevieve Beauchemin in Montreal.

But despite the cold weather, many Quebecers still made the effort to cast a ballot.

"I always vote," one woman from Westmount told CTV Montreal. "Not everybody has the privilege and I've got it and I'm using it."

Polls closed at 8 p.m. ET and the winner may be declared around 10 p.m.