It will soon be time to head to the polls. As the campaigns roll on and many wonder who to vote for, many students are also wondering how exactly to vote.
The Fair Elections Act was enacted by the current Conservative federal government, and was passed last year. The act made a number of alterations to processes of voting, but a particularly noteworthy change is requiring proof of address at the polls.
“[The act] requires that people have more than just their little voter information card,” said UBC English Professor Mary Chapman, who recently published a book about women getting the vote. “They need to have two pieces of ID, or one piece of ID that has both photo and address, or two pieces of ID that give you both bits of information.”
The bill was controversial since certain groups, such as the Canadian Federation of Students who “argued that it could be perceived as an act of voter suppression,” said Chapman.
Students' addresses often change after eight months, if not more regularly, which is why the CFS was concerned that students would be suppressed from voting, as the act appears to discourage those who don't have a permanent address.
In an effort to reach the student vote, the AMS will be holding a non-partisan, voter encouragement campaign. One aspect of the campaign will be a polling station on the second floor of the old SUB.
“There are about 40 or so schools across the country that are having this type of advanced all-riding polling station,” said AMS VP External, Jude Crasta. “It’s an effort by Elections Canada to make youth engagement a lot more tangible and accessible for students. Students fall under a very specific category … when it comes to residency requirements and meeting ID requirements.”
According to Associate VP External Kathleen Simpson, the campaign will feature many events to augment the informational aspect of the campaign.
“Those events will be things like debate screenings and like hopefully a bar talk series, things like that so that people can actually … become engaged with the issues,” said Simpson.
The campaign will cost a total of $9,323.60, with the money coming of out a “now-defunct external lobbying fund that was raised through student fees.”
According to Crasta, this year’s campaign is one of the larger "get-out-the-vote" campaigns put on by the AMS, and will remain non-partisan and focused on drawing attention to the issues at hand.
“It’s driving that whole, we have a right to be heard, we love being engaged, this is something that should be a part of our every day lives that’s the whole focus that we’re taking the engagement campaign on,” said Crasta.
Apathy among the youth vote is a frequent topic of discussion when elections roll around. According to Elections Canada, in the 2011 federal elections, only 38.8 per cent of those between the ages of 18-24 who were eligible to vote actually did so.
While Chapman said that she believes the political apathy of youth has been somewhat over exaggerated, whenever youth decide not to vote it “means that the issues they care about most are the least likely to be attended to, by the governing parties or by any party because why would they care if the kids aren’t gonna show up to vote."
The worry now is that an already-apathetic portion of the population might become more so without knowing what type of ID they need to bring to the polls.
According to Crasta, UBC students can retrieve an address confirmation form from Elections Canada’s website, which can be signed by the student’s Residence Life Manager, and this would constitute proof of address.
“At least this is a step in the right direction to fulfill all those tertiary requirements before you actually go in,” said Crasta.
Chapman also points out that a number of different documents, ranging from the letter admitting you to your dorm to a label on prescription drugs, can prove address, you just have to be organized.
“How many polls do people participate in on a daily basis, when they’re going through their Facebook feed? But we ask them to walk two blocks to their community centre to chose the government … and they don’t have time, it just breaks my heart,” said Chapman.
The AMS federal elections campaign is currently looking for volunteers.
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