In just about every election, there’s always that one riding which gets decided by the narrowest of margins. The 2019 Federal Election was no different. 

For example, the British Columbian riding of Port Moody: Coquitlam was won by the Conservative Party by a mere 153 votes. But that wasn’t even the closest margin of the 2019 Election. In Yukon, the Liberal candidate Larry Bagnell snatched the riding from Conservative Jonas Smith—and by only 72 votes! 

These ridings truly exemplify the impact your vote can have. Had a tiny percentage of the voting population changed their ballots, we could have seen a different candidate in charge of the riding, bringing in a whole new set of hopes, dreams and policies. It’s a gigantic “what-if” that could have changed the future of the ridings.

This outcome could also have been changed by the non-voting population. Every election, there are a significant amount of the population don’t vote for a variety of reasons. In the recent 2019 Federal Election, there was a 66% voter-turnout, down from the 68% rate in 2015, and well-below the historical average of 70%. These numbers indicate that practically 1 in 3 of the eligible voting population opted not to vote. If a large proportion of the non-voting population had cast their votes, we could have seen radically different results in the recent election.

Voter turn-out is a frequent topic of discussion after each election, especially if the numbers are low. This is because low turn-out numbers can reflect poorly on the democratic nature of the Canadian government, and democracy as a whole. If 1 in 3 of the eligible voting population, along with more non-registered voters who aren’t voting, is the elected government truly representative of the people? 

There is a plethora of reasons for which a large proportion of the population may have chosen not to vote. For non-voting students and young adults, these reasons include feelings of disconnectedness and apathy. One anonymous student I spoke with stated that the reason why they didn’t vote in the 2019 election was because they felt like it “wouldn’t make a difference”, and that it didn’t matter which party was in charge. This student also felt that a feeling of disconnectedness to the candidates of their riding was also a contributing factor in their decision. Another student cited a dislike of all the major parties running in the election as the primary reason for not voting. This student didn’t feel like any of these parties were representative of their political beliefs, and wouldn’t bother voting for an independent candidate who they felt would probably have “no chance of winning”.

Other students cited a lack of political knowledge as the main reason they chose not to vote. One student disclosed that despite knowing about the Federal election and voting day, they felt as if they didn’t know enough to make an informed vote. They said that had they known about “[a] school resource, or designated orientation where someone could present and summarize information about the parties” they would be more compelled to learn and vote. Another student claimed to be plainly disinterested in learning more about the various parties and candidates platforms, stating that “unless it was mandatory for a course or credit requirement,” they simply “wouldn’t bother [voting]”.

To address these reasons for non-voting youth, there have been a multitude of solutions proposed. One suggestion, for example, aims to instill a sense of civic duty from a young age by integrating civic education into the classroom to highlight the importance of voting. Other ways to improve the youth voter turn-out include teaching people how to register themselves to vote, highlighting the impact of policies, and reaching out to young adults on popular social media platforms.

In conclusion, there are a variety of reasons why students and young adults may choose not to vote, ranging from indifference to disillusionment. These reasons contribute to a reduced rate of voter turn-out in the 18–24 year old category, which has historically, and continues to be the category with the lowest turn-out. In the future, we can expect political candidates to address some of these reasons to garner more votes from a key voting base—especially in hotly contested ridings.