A Lack of Youth Voting Leads to a Lack of Political Accuracy

A Lack of Youth Voting Leads to a Lack of Political Accuracy

It is a common misconception that the young citizens of Canada do not vote due to a lack of interest in politics, although this may be the case for some, a lack of accessibility of polling stations for students living on University campuses plays a huge role in this issue. As the federal election looms in the near future, the push for young voters to get out to the polls has never been more prevalent. As the Conservatives and Liberals go head to head as the New Democratic party has seemingly fallen silent over the course of the election, voters must choose between the current Harper government and the progressive Trudeau government that promises real change.

It has become a pressing issue across Canada that voters in the youngest age bracket of eligible Canadians are not voting. There are numerous factors which play into this growing issue, but the most important one being, students who are living away from home at Universities out of their voting district. The hassle to come home to vote just doesn’t seem worth it for students who already have their plates filled with midterm season in full swing.

Elections Canada gathered data regarding the 2011 federal election the significant shortage of young voters, “The pattern of turnout by age is the same in each province and territory, with turnout lowest among 18- to 24-year-olds”(Estimation of Voter, 8). This indicated that there needed to be a greater push for voters in this age bracket to participate in federal level elections.

In light of this, Election’s Canada has implemented a new system of voting at select University and college campuses, which allow Canadian citizens 18 and older to vote at polling stations located out of their own voting districts, including at McMaster University located in Hamilton, Ontario. On the 19th of October, registered voters will have access to a polling station located on or nearby post secondary institution campuses where they can submit their ballets (Elections Canada, 2). Regardless of the location of the polling station, the vote will be distributed to the student’s local riding (Elections Canada, 3). This leaves essentially no excuse for students attending post-secondary institutes away from their designated ridings to not vote.

In addition to the creation of the open Election offices, the Liberal party of Canada has geared a great deal of the political platform to focus on the future of Canada and investing in the young voters. In their platform the Liberals plan to improve the number of young voters in three ways. Firstly the plan instil the importance behind voting through high school curriculum, “Every young person should be registered to vote when they turn 18. We will work with interested provinces and territories, and Elections Canada, to register young Canadians as a part of their high school or CEGEP curriculum” (Young Canadians, 2). Secondly, they plan to work along side Elections Canada to educate the young people of Canada about the importance of voting, “To ensure that no young person loses the opportunity to vote, we will mandate Elections Canada to stay in contact with them if they change addresses after graduation” (Young Canadians, 3). And finally the plan to publicize the significance behind voting through targeting groups of people who do not regularly participate in federal elections, “encourage more voter participation, we will support Elections Canada in proactively registering Canadians from groups that historically have lower turnout, such as students” (Young Canadians, 4). In effect of including this in their political platforms the Liberal Party has demonstrated that their concern with the lack of youth voting is genuine as they plan to do something to change this.