The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) is holding another Get Out the Vote (GOTV) campaign for the upcoming federal election.
Get Out The Vote initiative
The “Get Out The Vote” campaign was created by CASA to encourage students to vote in their local elections. The GOTV website answers common questions students may have about voting, with the intention of increasing student voter turnout.
GOTV on the UNB Saint John campus
According to one of the volunteers, Katie Herrington, throughout next week up until election day, there will be an information booth where volunteers will answer questions about the election and voting and hand out GOTV “swag”. The booth will be at the Hans W. Commons library.
The booth will be open next Monday, September 13 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., on September 15 and 17 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and September 20 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
In case a student wants to be a volunteer at the information booth, they can email Katie Herrington (kherring@unb.ca) or Adam Lambert, VP External (external@unbsrc.ca).
Safe Ride
The Safe Ride service will be available to take students to the local polling station at 600 Millidge Ave on election day. If a student wants to request this service, they must call the Safe Ride service at 506-650-0052 within their working hours and indicate their destination.
NBSA Initiative
The initiative by the New Brunswick Student Alliance (NBSA) will also be present at the booth. Students can write their requests, ideas and concerns on a roll of paper and these will be sent to Parliament in Ottawa along with the other three NBSA schools, UNB Fredericton, St. Thomas University, and Mount Allison University.
No polling stations on campuses
Due to the sudden call to vote this year, there will not be polling stations on campus since they take months to coordinate, according to Kim Poffenroth, the Elections N.B. Chief Electoral Officer.
Adam Lambert stated that the SRC is disappointed about this decision. “It reduces the accessibility for our students to vote. Specifically, students who need specialized ballots”, he indicated. Mail-in ballots must be requested by Tuesday, September 14 to ensure that they are received on time for September 20.
2019 student turnout
According to Elections Canada, the turnout of people between the ages of 18 and 24 in Canada in the 2019 federal election was 53.9%, with 1,493,679 votes cast out of 2,772,468 possible voters.
In New Brunswick specifically, the turnout was 55.4%.
“Two million students have the capacity to make a big difference in this election, and it’s important that each and every vote be cast,” says the GOTV website.
