Concerns raised after Elections Canada scraps on-campus voting program

Charles MacDougall says he was disappointed when he heard Elections Canada had cancelled its on-campus voting program.

"I think it's really shameful," said MacDougall, a former Université de Moncton student who spoke from Greenwood, N.S.

The Vote on Campus program started as a pilot program in 2015. The aim was to help those on campus, like students, cast a special ballot at polling stations set up on campus.

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It allowed people to vote in whatever they considered to be their home riding, from anywhere in the country.

The pilot program became an official program during the 2019 federal election. According to Elections Canada, about 110,000 ballots were cast on university campuses across the country.

MacDougall worked with Elections Canada as an information officer at the university during the last federal election. He saw the impact it had on helping students, and others, vote.

"I think an important thing to say is that not just students can go vote at these special voting stations, but anybody in the community can ... the staff at the university can," said MacDougall.

"I remember people from the community coming to our polling station, being happy that we were open for the days that we were open, and they found it really important for them." 

Reasons for cancellations

Elections Canada spokesperson Diane Benson said in a statement that the COVID-19 pandemic and uncertain timelines around a minority government are two reasons for the cancellation. 

Logistical challenges included recruiting election workers and securing space on campus to run the program.

There were also concerns around whether students would have been physically on campus, given that work relating to the program is planned in advance. 

MacDougall questions why an election is even being held if the government could not uphold the program.

"I think they're pretty flimsy reasons," he said. "It's extremely important to our democratic society that we hold on to these programs that allow more people to vote."

Making adjustments

Kordell Walsh, the president of the University of New Brunswick's student union, said he understands Election Canada's reasons for cancelling the program.

But Walsh is concerned about potential barriers for students who want to vote. 

"We want to ensure students are safe," Walsh said. "We would love to see [the program] come back in the next election.

"But right now, our focus is really going to be on ensuring that students have all the information they need to vote and encouraging students to vote by mail in ballots so that they can have the flexibility to vote by special ballot." 

Walsh also hopes that Elections Canada will reach out to students to explain voting options, given that Walsh has encountered students with the misconception that they can only vote on campus. 

The university will assist in getting students to the polling locations by using its SafeRide program.

"I understand the decision, but, hopefully, the decision isn't setting a precedent for future elections," Walsh said. 

Political response

In a press release, the Green Party of Canada expressed concern over the cancellation.

Green Party Leader Annamie Paul stated the party "echoes the calls made by student leaders across the country, and implores Elections Canada to revisit the decision to cancel campus voting programs." 

A statement from the office of Jenica Atwin, the Liberal party candidate for Fredericton, said: "It is unfortunate that Elections Canada made the decision to not have on campus voting this election but our campaign will continue to reach out to university students and encourage them to vote."

The NDP provided a statement from Jagmeet Singh, the party leader, stating: "Even without this option, college and university still have a lot of ways they can vote. I encourage college and university students across the country to make a plan to vote as early as possible."  

The Conservative Party of Canada did not respond to a request for a comment about the situation.

Election day is Sept. 20.