Slide Deck 7B: Electoral Participation Research

What attitudes do you have about participating in the voting process What attitudes do you have about participating in the voting process? What has shaped your views?

NATIONAL YOUTH SURVEY Elections Canada, our national electoral agency, conducted research after the last two federal elections to investigate the reasons for low voter turnout among youth.

THE VALUE OF CIVIC EDUCATION Young people who voted were much more likely to say… They learned about government and politics in high school (65% voters vs 46% of non-voters) Participated in a parallel election, such as Student Vote (49% voters vs 39% non-voters)

Turnout for Alberta provincial elections

Here’s a question: Why is low voter turnout important Here’s a question: Why is low voter turnout important? Are election results legitimate when the majority of people don’t vote?

REFLECTION QUESTIONS Do you agree or disagree with the following proposals to increase voter turnout? Voting should be a legal requirement and those that do not vote should be fined Voting day should be a holiday so that people have sufficient time to vote Online voting would make it easier to cast a vote The voting age should be lowered to 16 years of age