Youth voting: 1st-time voters weigh in on last days of election campaign
On the Coast asks 3 first-time voters about strategic voting among youth, coalition governments, and more
With only three more days to go until election day, On the Coast asked three first-time voters about strategic voting among youth, coalition governments, and more.
Kathleen Yang
Kathleen Yang is a 22 year old SFU student who is undecided -- but it's between the NDP or Greens.
There has been talk about the possibility of a coalition government. What do you hope happens in the event we have a minority government?
A minority government is a great opportunity for parties to come together and collaborate, compromise, and come to the best solutions. Because I really think we get bogged down by party lines and it inhibits a lot of our ability to innovate and come up with creative solutions to our country's problems. I think a lot of the issues we have right now are a result of the conservative government really pushing through their own agenda. Had any of the other parties been able to compromise and provide concessions, this election would have been a lot different. There would have been a lot less push for such strategic voting as if it is our last chance to get out Harper.
Parmida Esmaeilpour
Parmida Esmaeilpour is a 19 year old student at UBC who supports the Conservatives, but is considering voting for NDP too.
What have you seen in this past week that has swayed your vote?
The last few days of any campaign period are especially important. You really get to see the nitty gritty of what's happening and what ends people are willing to go to. Obviously there [have been] scandals surrounding the Conservatives and their ad placements as well. But there is some element of — I wouldn't necessarily call it corruption — disappointment that each candidate or each party will offer to any voter. Ultimately I won't be voting for a party based on how they campaign, I'll be voting for them based on how they govern.
Jude Crasta
Jude Crasta is a 23 year old UBC student who voted for the Liberals at an on campus advance poll.
Strategic Voting is aimed at unseating conservative candidates, are you convinced that it works?
It's one of the side effects of a failed first-past-the-post system. I think if we want to talk about taking away strategic voting, we first need to talk about electoral reform as a major conversation. Whether or not it works, it really depends on the context and the riding. What it does is it definitely does is target the effect that we've seen so far where there's a split in the vote for the progressive parties and the Conservatives making up that crowd. So we'll have to see on election day whether it's successful or not.
This interview has been condensed and edited. To hear the full interview, listen to the audio labelled: 1st-time voters weigh in on last days of election campaign.