By: Tony Davis
“Even if you don’t have the time to develop a great sense of who is running or what their party tries to achieve, I still think you should at least try and take an interest […],” says first year student Thomas Haslam. (Photo by Shelley Ebbett/UPEI)
It’s that time of year again… final exams.
And to make an already busy time more hectic, a provincial election has been called for April 23.
Some students at UPEI don’t think they will have time to make it out to the polls. Chris MacDonald is a third-year student studying computer science. He has five exams this semester and said he doesn’t think he will have time to get to know the issues.
“I don’t think I’ll really have time especially with big course loads. There are a lot of theoretically intensive courses I am doing right now so I have a lot of studying on my plate and I don’t have time to worry myself with other issues,†MacDonald said.
This year is the first year Thomas Haslam can vote and he doesn’t plan on wasting it. Even though exam time is busy, he has been politically engaged his whole life and plans to cast a vote in the upcoming provincial election.
“Even if you don’t have the time to develop a great sense of who is running or what their party tries to achieve, I still think you should at least try and take an interest in the smallest amount and still vote non-partisan and try and find the best representation even if you don’t have a great amount of time due to exams,†Haslam said.
Some students think more could be done to let students have the time to go and vote.
Nursing student Kaitlyn Gallant is worried about getting time to vote when she begins her career due to the long shifts. She said maybe governments should look into offering online voting.
“I was actually thinking I don’t know if any of the times would work for me, I don’t know when the polls are open, and I was thinking what if you are a nurse after you graduate with 12 hour shifts and can’t make it to the polls,†Gallant said.