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Students tell Elections Canada to do more after it cancels Vote on Campus
program | CBC News Loaded
Kitchener-Waterloo·Video
STUDENTS TELL ELECTIONS CANADA TO DO MORE AFTER IT CANCELS VOTE ON CAMPUS
PROGRAM
Post-secondary students are telling Elections Canada staff to do "as much as
they can" to encourage students to cast ballots after the agency cancelled the
Vote on Campus program for the 2021 federal election.
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PROGRAM SUSPENDED DUE TO PANDEMIC, SNAP ELECTION, SAYS OFFICE OF THE CHIEF
ELECTORAL OFFICER
Jackie Sharkey · CBC News · Posted: Aug 25, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated:
August 26
Students visit an advance polling station at Ryerson University in Toronto in
2019. Elections Canada says it's not offering the Vote on Campus program this
September for logistical reasons. (Alvin Yu/CBC)
390
comments
Post-secondary students are telling Elections Canada staff to do "as much as
they can" to encourage students to cast ballots after the agency cancelled the
Vote on Campus program for the 2021 federal election.
"There's youth voter studies out there that show youth believe voting doesn't
make a difference, and I think these types of actions, and the lack of
deployment of special ballot polling stations, exacerbates those negative
trends," Saad Shoaib, vice-president external for the University of British
Columbia's Alma Mater Society, told CBC News.
Elections Canada (the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer) said it's not
offering Vote on Campus this September for logistical reasons: the pandemic and
a minority government made it too difficult to plan anything on a campus.
* Have an election question for CBC News? Email us: Ask@cbc.ca. Your input
helps inform our coverage.
* Find out who's ahead in the latest polls with our Poll Tracker.
Vote on Campus allowed students to vote in their home ridings while away at
school. Temporary voting offices were set up on campus for students to vote by
special ballot or update their information so they could cast ballots in the
local riding.
It started as a pilot in 2015, and expanded to 109 colleges and universities in
the 2019 federal election.
"It takes months and months to organize Vote on Campus, and during a minority
government, an election can be declared at any time," Rejean Grenier, a
spokesperson for Elections Canada, told CBC News.
LACK OF ON-CAMPUS POLLING STATIONS CAUSING CONCERN OVER YOUTH VOTER TURNOUT
5 days ago
3:38
Executive director of Apathy is Boring, Samantha Reusch, talks to Power &
Politics about how the lack of on-campus polling stations can impact youth voter
turnout this election. 3:38
"The pandemic didn't help at all. Most of the universities, when we were
starting to plan this campaign ... they were closed from March 2020 — and they
didn't know when they were going to be reopening."
Grenier said returning officers who work for Elections Canada are making efforts
to put polling stations in student neighbourhoods where possible.
VOTE BY MAIL-IN, SPECIAL BALLOT
Students still have the option to vote by mail-in ballot (deadline to apply is
Sept. 14) or special ballot (which must be picked up by Sept. 14) at an
Elections Canada office.
But neither option goes far enough, say Shoaib and McMaster Student Union
president Denver Della-Vedova, who have co-signed a letter to Stéphane Perrault,
the country's chief electoral officer.
* Nova Scotia Votes
Get Out the Vote campaign encourages students to make their voices heard
* City of Vancouver endorses lowering voting age to 16 in municipal elections
"I think it falls on Elections Canada to do as much as they can to ensure that
students are able to vote and have equitable, fair access to voting in every way
possible," said Della-Vedova.
"This is a need," said Shoaib. "This is a need for students. They need to be
able to respond in a quick manner and I think this calls for special
circumstances. They should make every effort to ensure that students have the
right, accessible mechanisms on campuses to vote."
At the bare minimum, the students say Elections Canada needs to commit to
reinstating the program for the next federal election.
* In Depth
Urgency over climate crisis makes this federal election feel different from
even 2 years ago: UW prof
While Elections Canada says it is committed to continuing the program, it is not
making any promises. Its website says any external service point program — of
which Vote on Campus has been a part — "will not be deployed for the 44th
[general election] in a pandemic or post-pandemic situation."
It goes on to say that would be re-evaluated if pandemic restrictions are
lifted.
But if another minority government were to be elected, allowing another snap
election to be called in short order, Grenier said pandemic logistics would
again be a challenge.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jackie Sharkey
Associate Producer, CBC KW
Jackie Sharkey has worked all over the country with the CBC over the past
decade, including Kelowna, Quebec City and Rankin Inlet, NU.
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News
Report Typo or Error
RELATED STORIES
City of Vancouver endorses lowering voting age to 16 in municipal elections
Nova Scotia Votes
Get Out the Vote campaign encourages students to make their voices heard
In Depth
Urgency over climate crisis makes this federal election feel different from even
2 years ago: UW prof
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