Most University of Regina students have chosen to vote in person this election. Although mail-in ballots are becoming more and more popular between electors across the country, U of R students still prefer the old methods.
“I like getting out there, getting involved and being able to see everything happening” said a U of R student about why they preferred in person voting. After more than a year and half of not being physically active in the community students prefer to be involved and not isolate themselves when possible. “I was looking forward to voting in person since it’s a reason to get out and be with the community” said a U of R student.
Being involved in the community is one of the main reasons why many students decided to vote in person, but it is not the only one. “… [in person voting] it’s easier than by mail” said a U of R student in an interview. Many students are first time voters, or they have only voted a few times before, so they find the process of signing up for a special ballot kit challenging.
Several students also decided to vote in person this election as their families were going to the voting locations. “… I went and voted with my family, so I didn’t see the need to use a mail-in ballot” said a U of R student when asked why they didn’t use a mail-in ballot.
Some students have also missed the deadline of signing up for the special ballot, so they had no choice than to vote in person this year. “There is always so much going on with all my classes and working as well, I totally forgot about the mail-in ballot deadline” said a U of R student when they were asked why they would be voting in person. Many students were planning to cast their ballots in person after their classes ended on election day since they didn’t have time to sign up for a special ballot kit.
Although U of R students decided not to use mail-in ballots, Election Canada has previously estimated that between 4 to 5 million electors might choose to vote by mail. Election Canada believed that electors might not feel comfortable voting in person as the Covid-19 pandemic continues.
Mail-in ballots also played a vital role in this election because many electors were not able to cast their ballots in person as they might have been isolated.
Election Canada increased their capacity to accept greater numbers of mail-in ballots this election but based on their data only more than 2 million Canadians across the country voted by mail which is half the estimated number.
This year mail-in ballot numbers are lower than what Election Canada initially estimated, but they are far larger than the 50,000 mail-in ballots in the 2019 election.
