Youth voting: 1st-time voters weigh in on youth engagement

It's question that'sasked year after year, election after election: Why do young Canadians vote less than others?

For example, in 2011, 38.8 per cent of eligible 18-to-24-year-olds voted in the federal election. But for the rest of Canadians, the overall average was 61.1 per cent, according to Statistics Canada.

To find out why fewer young people vote, On The Coast invited three young, first-time voters for their take on issues of engagement.

• Rick Mercer: youth vote could 'change the country'
• Canada election 2015: special campus and youth centre polling stations open
• 'Let the lefties run your campus': How parties try to recruit youth to their campaigns

Jude Crasta

Jude Crasta is a 23-year-old UBC student who voted for the Liberals on Monday during advance polling.

What made you choose the Liberals?

For me a lot of the appeal is the policies and the promises they make, especially the way they promised more infrastructure spending and youth education spending and post-secondary funding.

How do you get young people out to vote?

The way we target it, we go to the areas students already engage with and try and connect that with an election. I think a lot of people are more connected with the issues and the idea that voting gives them more of a voice than apathy would, so we've definitely seen a lot more enthusiasm than in other elections.

Parmida Esmaeilpour

Parmida Esmaeilpour is a 19-year-old student at the University of British Columbia who is deciding between the Conservatives and the NDP.

You're trying to decide between the Conservatives and the NDP. A lot of people might think of them as opposites. What are the most important issues for you in this election?

It comes down to which leader I can trust more with policy. The issues that matter to me aren't youth-specific, they're foreign policy, being an immigrant myself, from Iran. The reason I'm considering the Conservatives is because I'm ideologically aligned with them, but I'm not satisfied with any of their foreign policy decisions including immigration, especially their approach to tiered citizenship.

The Greens, NDP and Liberals have committed to bringing in some sort of proportional representation if they form government. Do you think that might encourage more people to vote?

I think a change like that would definitely be good, especially for small parties. But I don't think that would necessarily influence the youth vote. It's inherently problematic to be factionalizing the youth vote as separate from the rest of the vote.

Then how do you make young people feel included?

I'm a strong proponent of mandatory voting. If you make it clear that it's part of their civic obligation as a citizen, then they will be more likely be inclined to pursue the information to make an informed decision.

Kathleen Yang

Kathleen Yang is a 22-year-old Simon Fraser University student who is deciding between the NDP and Green Party.

You're on the fence between the Greens and the NDP. What would either party need to do to get your vote?

So far, they stand very similar on the issues I care about. My main concerns are housing, food and income security for all Canadians, and women's issues in particular. Both the NDP and the Greens have committed to rectifying issues faced by women and girls. But it's hard to say right now, because many of the candidates I've met don't seem to reflect the whole ideology of the party.

How do you think we can get more young people to vote?

I think a lot of it does come down to accessible language. A lot of the students I talk towhen they're talking about where the parties stand in terms of ideologyit doesn't always speak to them. When you tell themwhich party is going to eliminate interest on student loans, and which party is going to spend more on tuition, and which party is going to take care of housing security issues, that's what speaks to students the most.

This interview has been condensed and edited. To hear the full interview, listen to the audio labelled:Why are youth voting numbers so low? We ask first-time voters