On-campus voting offers a convenient way for post-secondary students to cast their ballots — especially those who, like 21-year-old Sarah Claeys, are attending school away from their hometown. Read More
On-campus voting has the potential to eliminate a variety of the logistical barriers that prevent people from voting
On-campus voting has the potential to eliminate a variety of the logistical barriers that prevent people from voting
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On-campus voting offers a convenient way for post-secondary students to cast their ballots — especially those who, like 21-year-old Sarah Claeys, are attending school away from their hometown.
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Claeys, who is studying business at the University of Calgary, isn’t from Alberta — but she’s passionate about getting her vote in.
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“It was very important to me,” Claeys said. “I’ve gotten all my friends to vote. I’ve told them that’s the only way you can make a difference if you’re upset about something.
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“It’s easy for all of us to sit back and complain,” she said. “We all watch the news, and we see what’s going on, and it’s easy to complain and be like, ‘I would do it so much better.’
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“The only way to get your voice out there is to vote.”
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Housing and affordability were top considerations for Claeys when deciding who she would vote for. She has a year left before she graduates and is acutely aware of how the outcome of this election might affect her future.
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“I want to be able to afford to live when I graduate,” she said. “My parents are supporting me through university, but when I’m done that, they won’t be.”
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Hope for more youth voters
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The university’s voting station experienced a steady trickle of voters after opening Sunday. Many are staff and students, currently in the midst of exam season, but voting on campus is open to anyone who requires a special ballot or those who want to cast their vote in advance.
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The Vote on Campus initiative was started by Elections Canada as a pilot project in 2015, after survey results showed that young people were often not voting due to a range of circumstances including being out of town, too busy or a lack of familiarity with the voting process.
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During the 2019 election, 109 campuses held voting stations and saw more than 110,000 voters. The program was not offered in the 2021 election due to the pandemic.
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The executive director of New Majority — a non-partisan organization that works to get more youth voters to the polls — says that voter participation in the 18-to-24 age group declined by seven per cent between 2019 and 2021, a drop she attributes largely to the pandemic and the resulting pause in on-campus voting.
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“I’m certainly hoping that because on-campus voting is back that that will help to boost the numbers this time around,” said Amanda Munday, before emphasizing how pivotal a role younger voters could play in the election if they come out in droves.