By: Bryce Doiron
Students lined up on Nov. 1 to get out the vote, a campaign that encouraged university and college students to vote in their municipal elections.
Elections P.E.I. officials were stationed at Holland College and UPEI on Nov. 1 for students from Charlottetown, Cornwall, Stratford and Summerside to cast their ballots.
Fourth-year nursing student Colton Profitt is certainly a fan of the project.
Colton Profitt, UPEI student and member of the Get Out the Vote campaign. (Allison O’Brien)
“It’s making it more accessible for students to vote.â€
It’s something Elections P.E.I. wants to see.
“After a disappointing plebiscite vote, we wanted to break down barriers,†said elections operations manager Paul Alan.
“New Brunswick had a great campus turnout with their provincial election so we knew it could work.â€
Profitt said taking the vote to the students will motivate those who come from away.
“They are being encouraged to vote and have a say in how government is conducted in the city they now call home, said the UPEISU Chair of Council.
As for the process itself, students say it was smooth sailing.
“It was exciting and was pretty quick,†said Mustafa Tahir, a biology student at UPEI.
“It was my first time voting and it was nice to have a say in who is going to represent us.â€
As for students who didn’t get a chance to vote on campus, they still can, on Nov. 5 at their local polling station.