Come prepared when registering to vote in Quebec: Apathy Is Boring

MONTREAL – If you’re an out-of-province student in Quebec and you think you’re rightfully eligible to vote, then come prepared when you go register.

That way, they won’t send you away and say you can’t vote.

We have to keep at it, because youth voter turnout is very low compared to older Quebecers, and it’s our generation’s job to bring it back up so we can be heard loud and clear.

People under the age of 35 represent roughly one out of every three eligible voters in Quebec, but we’re so shy about voting that our impact is smaller than it could be.

Don’t get discouraged. And more importantly, bring a friend… it’ll pass the time, while you contribute to growing our youth voter numbers.

With regard to out-of-province students, Quebec’s electoral office, the DGEQ, is quite clear in its rules about residency.

First and foremost, you need to have been residing in Quebec for the past six months. If you don’t fit that bill or cannot prove it with a lease, a Hydro bill, or something official with your address on it, then that’s that. Voting will not be possible.

That being said, if you’ve got these documents, but you’re still declaring your taxes in another province, keeping an address at your parents house in another province, and your health card and driving permit are also from another province, then you might not get to vote in Quebec. Luckily, you’ll have all it takes to vote in your home province, using a mail in ballot, when the time comes. You won’t lose your democratic right.

It might feel like walking a tightrope.

The lines can easily become blurred when you’re a student. You risk becoming an electoral persona non-grata at home and away if you’re not properly informed, and if you don’t keep a good track of your paperwork.

You don’t want to find yourself in an unpleasant purgatory: where you can’t vote in your home province because you’ve been away for over six months, and you can’t vote in your new province because you don’t have the right paperwork.

Let’s continue this discussion. Pledge to vote by joining our Facebook group, and click here to find out more about how to register and vote using our interactive online resources.

Youri Cormier is the executive director for Apathy Is Boring. He is a former Concordia University and Royal Military College student, currently finalizing a PhD in War Studies at King’s College London in the U.K.