Votership in B.C. is expected to increase this year and youth voters could have a major impact on the outcome of the Oct. 19 election.
Cole Reinbold, the secretary treasurer of the BC Federation of Students, says young voters — those under 35 — now make up the largest voting bloc in Canada.
“One in five of all eligible voters in B.C. are young people. So it’s really an incredible statistic, and that is only going to grow,” said Reinbold.
But according to Elections B.C., 53 per cent of registered voters took part in the 2020 provincial election, with a noticeable drop in youth participation compared to 2017.
Reinbold says the decline may be because young people refrain from voting when they believe their vote won’t matter, and lack of information to make informed decisions. They say the BC Federation of Students has launched a campaign to combat the decline.
Reinbold says the federation started vote-now.ca — a website compiling all the party platforms and highlighting policies that affect post-secondary education.
“When I first started this work and learned that people think that youth are apathetic about voting. I was absolutely shocked. Since early high school, everyone I know has been excited about voting, and so the idea that youth are apathetic simply isn’t true, and that idea simply doesn’t hold up anymore,” they said.
Reinbold says with millennials and gen Z now being the largest voting bloc, ignoring voters isn’t just outdated.
“It’s a missed opportunity and a surefire way for MLAs to not get elected on Oct. 19.”