[1] The Lieutenant Governor then appointed Joly de Lotbinière, the leader of the Liberals, as premier.

Since the Conservatives still maintained a substantial majority in the Legislative Assembly, on March 22, 1878 Joly de Lotbinière requested the dissolution of the Assembly and a general election, which Letellier de Saint-Just ordered.

"[2] Joly de Lotbinière agreed that the people should decide, and campaigned on the slogan “The province must choose between direct taxation and economy.”[3] Following the election results, Joly de Lotbinière was able to stay in office for one year as the leader of a minority government supported by the Independent Conservatives,[3] even though the Conservative Party had one more seat than the Liberals.

That map had set the boundaries for the sixty-five constituencies of Canada East, which became Quebec.

[7] The Act required that each municipality prepare a voter list in March of each year, based on the valuation of property and ownership used for the tax rolls.

[9] Any person who was dissatisfied by their inclusion or exclusion from the list could appeal to the local judge of the superior court or district magistrate, whose decision on the issue was final.

[10] The election began with a proclamation issued by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, setting the date for nomination of candidates.

The meeting was conducted at the most central and convenient location in the constituency, in a court house, city hall or registry office, between noon and one o'clock.

[22] If there was a tie between the top two candidates, the Returning Officer was required to give a written casting vote immediately to decide the election.