Push is on to get young Alberta voters to the polls

EDMONTON – Every day, Danika McConnell walks through the halls of MacEwan University asking students to promise her they will do one thing: Vote.

“We have a lot of really dedicated volunteers who are really passionate about this,” said McConnell.

She’s working alongside dozens of other students as part of a get-out-the-vote campaign coordinated by the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations.

The group has a monumental task. Most Canadian youth don’t vote.

In the 2011 federal election, 61 per cent of Canadians voted but only 38.8 per cent of 18-24 year-olds cast a ballot.

McConnell feels young people care deeply about the issues. However, nerves keep many away.

“I think it comes to the fear,” she said.

“The first-time voter who has commonly gone with their parents, it’s something very different for them and something they may not have experienced before.”

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This year, McConnell thinks those turnout figures will go up. Thousands of MacEwan students have pledged to vote on Oct. 19.

The length of this election has helped her efforts as well.

“We often say we never have enough time. So even though this has been a tiresome election process and the election has gone on a long time, it has given students time to really evaluate where they stand,” McConnell explained.

READ MORE: To boost youth vote, Elections Canada brings ballots to students 

Younger students may be unable to vote, but there is a push to involve them in the election as well.

Grade 9 students at Edmonton’s Sir John Thompson Junior High School cast ballots as part of Student Vote. The national campaign is designed to expose Canadian youth to the voting process.

Teacher Joseph Filiplic said such exposure will eventually help increase youth voter turnout.

“The younger they’re exposed to the voting process, the more likely that they’ll continue to vote. It’ll become a habit when they are legally able to vote.”

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The 13 and 14-year-olds taking part this year said the campaign issues interest them and so do the discussions about them.

Mateo Skeljo said dinner conversations have recently changed. His parents argue about politics. Now he is joining in.

“It’s been fun getting in fights together,” he said.

Skeljo said he’ll vote when he has the chance. Many of his classmates said they will as well.

One Grade 9 student at the school is making a difference this election. Hazel Diamono-Mensah’s parents recently became Canadian citizens. They have not voted before and did not plan to vote in the 2015 federal election.