It’s a well-known fact that young people don’t vote as much as other demographics, and there’s suggestions as to why. I would like to suggest that young people in university don’t vote because voting away from home is more hassle than it’s worth. I didn’t vote in the recent Nova Scotia election, but not by my own choosing.
I had to apply for a write-in ballot. I received some forms from my MLA’s office and the instructions seemed straightforward. Fill in my name, birth date, sex, electoral district, current address, mailing address and attach a scanned copy of some kind of ID.
Wait, what district am I in? I re-read all the papers. Nowhere did it mention what electoral district I belonged to. It turns out that the papers didn’t say much of anything.
Nowhere on the papers did it say when they had to be sent back. Nor did it say when the election was or even who was running.
Furthermore, the papers I received from my MLA’s office never should have been sent to me. Any forms should have come from the Returning Office.
Even if I had known my district, known when to send the forms back and when the election was, I had the wrong forms. By the time I learned that, it was too late to get the proper forms. I had lost my chance to vote.
And they wonder why the worst voter turnout is the young demographic.
Being 19 and having never voted before, I was in the dark about the whole process. I had always been taught that I should vote, but never how to vote. This, I feel, is why young people don’t vote. We have no idea what we’re doing.
How difficult would it be for Elections Nova Scotia to visit high schools and give a presentation on the voting process? They could answer questions like how to register to vote, what pieces of ID you need to bring to the polls and what electoral district you belong to.
As many students go to other provinces for university, it would be useful to have a rundown on how to apply for and fill out a write-in ballot. How was I supposed to know that write-ins were to come from the Returning Office and not from my MLA’s office?
What if the voting was brought to us? Mobile polls already exist for people who live in nursing homes, residential units of public hospitals, homeless shelters, etc. I think it would be a great idea for mobile polls to come to out-of-province universities. Even if they only came to universities in the Maritimes, it would enable more young people to vote.
A flyer sent to my parents by Elections Nova Scotia said, “They…have made the voting process easier than ever.” After my experience, I disagree. My (failed) attempt at voting should not have been this difficult. It would have been less hassle to drive three and a half hours to vote in person. Better luck next time, I suppose.
