Conference at UPEI aims to increase student vote

The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations is gearing up for the upcoming federal election.

It is rolling out the Get Out The Vote campaign and, starting Monday, the UPEI student union is hosting a conference for student unions across the Maritimes planning to participate.

The campaign also ran in 2015. The association got 42,000 students to pledge to vote in that election, including 1,200 from UPEI.

"Students are going to be gathering here right on P.E.I., on the UPEI campus, to do a bit of training in regards to the campaign that is coming up this fall," Emma Drake, the UPEI student union president, told CBC's Compass.

Drake said students will learn what information to pass along from Elections Canada and how to make sure it is correct.

"Overall we are going to be learning about how can we really increase the numbers of pledges from students to ensure that we are going to increase student voter turnout," Drake said.

Student turnout increased in 2015

According to the Elections Canada website, voter turnout for the 18-24 age group was about 57 per cent, which was up about 18 per cent from the 2011 turnout for the same group.

Drake said the campaign first ran in 2015 and she said she credits the campaign for the increase in young voters from 2011.

"We've recognized pledges are the most effective way people will follow through on their promise," Drake said. "So, if they are writing down, 'I pledge that I am going to vote in the 2019 federal election,' we know they are going to be doing that."

Students becoming more engaged

She said young people are becoming more engaged with political issues.

"I think students and young people overall are recognizing … a vote is a chance to determine your tomorrow and I think that's our biggest message," Drake said.

She said there will be polls at more than 110 campuses this year and that makes voting for students much more accessible.

The conference takes place at UPEI on Monday and Tuesday.

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