University students split on voting in muncipal election

Thunder Bay's city clerk wants more young voters to participate in this year's municipal election, but some university students have mixed feelings about exercising their local democratic rights.

John Hannam said students from out of town are eligible to vote in Thunder Bay's election and he's partnering with student groups to make sure they're aware of their rights.

Student Derek Neal said he's interested in voting municipally.

"Even though I'm not here for very long, I think my vote could be useful to the people who are here, Neal said. "There are going to be things that Thunder Bay needs ... and if I could actually give my help in that area, I would like to."

Students have other priorities

Still, Neal said that whether or not he will vote is "up in the air" until he becomes more educated on local candidates and issues.

Another out-of-town student, Ben Brown, said most students are worried about things like tuition fees, not municipal politics.

"I'll vote provincially, and I'll vote federally, but not municipally while I'm in school just because I don't really see what happens," Brown said, adding he's already lived in two different cities as a student.

But Brown said it's important for students who are from Thunder Bay to vote locally, "otherwise the system [democracy] doesn't really work that well."

Voter turnout less than 50 per cent

Hannam said the city will distribute information about the election to students leading up to voting day. He said improving the youth voter turnout will help increase overall voting rates.

In 2006 the voter turnout was 35.5 per cent, the lowest the city has ever seen since it started tracking turnout in 1970 at amalgamation.

Hannam said the city started being more aggressive in promoting voting in the lead-up to the 2010 election. That's when voter turnout was 46.5 per cent.