We know millennials don’t vote. Except when they do.
When young voters wanted access to cannabis, Justin Trudeau harvested the low-hanging fruit, so to speak, in the last federal election. But that one-time feat can’t easily be replicated by, say, legalizing cocaine or LSD …
So is there a way to push something other than drugs onto young people to achieve a new high in voter participation?
Ontario’s election turnouts are now the lowest in Canada, federally or provincially: A dismal 48 per cent of Ontarians voted in 2011, far below the roughly 70 per cent that turned out in a federal election earlier that year. A mere 51 per cent showed up for the 2014 Ontario vote.
Among those aged 18 to 24, only one in three (34 per cent) said they bothered to vote back in 2014, according to surveys conducted for the Toronto Star by the polling firm Campaign Research. But as Ontario’s June 7 election looms, there may be something in the air that makes young voters rise up.
A new analysis of the polling data suggests today’s millennials are more mindful of democracy than commonly thought: A remarkable 43 per cent indicated they were “extremely likely” to vote next month, and a further 34 per cent “very likely” this time (a less reliable barometer, but still promising).
Taken together, those numbers suggest far more voters aged 18 to 24 could participate, making them a wild card in the June 7 election, according to online panels totalling 8,065 eligible Ontario voters, with a margin of error of 1.1 per cent.
“Young people are twice as likely to believe — almost certainly wrongly — that they can’t cast ballots because they don’t think they’re registered on the voter list. A similar misapprehension deters many New Canadiansfrom exercising their democratic right. In fact, any citizen can show up on voting day with valid identification to prove their eligibility on the spot.”
Guys, if you haven’t registered that’s fine!! Just show up with ID!! Please get out there and vote!!!!
And if you’re not sure what counts as “valid identification,” Elections Canada has an excellent list of what counts and what you can use–and no, it’s not just your driver’s license!
Go to this link to see what you can bring with you: http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=ids&document=index&lang=e
Specific to Ontario: https://www.elections.on.ca/content/dam/NGW/sitecontent/2017/preo/idpage/Identification%20Requirements%20for%20Voting%20in%20Ontario%20Provincial%20Election.pdf
Get ready to vote!
Here’s the section of the Elections Canada faq that specifically covers what ID works if you’re transgender:
http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=faq&document=faqid&lang=e#id13
Opinion | Young people are paying attention to Ontario’s election
Time's Vengeance 