The Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) presented a motion to Carleton’s senate meeting Sept. 25 to declare Oct. 19 Academic Amnesty Day. If it’s a success, students would be exempt from attending class that day to vote in the upcoming federal election.
To encourage students to vote in this year’s election, the GSA introduced the motion for Academic Amnesty Day to Carleton’s senate, arguing many students may find it difficult or near impossible to vote at their local polling station during the hours of poll operation without missing class, usually with a penalty.
“Most of us want to have a say in who runs our country, but if we have a day packed full of classes and no time to wait in line at the polls, how are we supposed to contribute?” said first-year Carleton student Olivia Kirkwood. Kirkwood also said older voters usually complain the new generation is not as involved in the electoral sphere without acknowledging why.
Statistically, far fewer youth vote in federal elections.
The motion was defeated at the senate, although there were 13 votes in favour, according to GSA president Michael Bueckert.
“I’m disappointed with the outcome, but this just means we’ll have to work harder on the ground to make sure that students are prepared to vote on Oct.19,” Bueckert said.
Bueckert added that many students will have to use advanced polls more than a week before the campaign is even over, and this may not give students enough time to make a decision.
Academic amnesty would have provided flexibility and leniency for students to vote on Election Day without being discouraged due to a heavy schedule, he said.
“I think it would have been a great tool to increase voter participation for students,” Bueckert added.
Clerk of senate Donald Russell said there was a lack of evidence that students were being prevented from voting because they were attending class.
Russell said students have enough time to vote between the twelve-hour time frame on election day and advanced polls, which are open Oct. 9-12.
“Making any changes to class schedules with such short notice would be a difficult thing to do,” Russell said.
Going forward, the GSA will be requesting that individual instructors do what they can to make it easier for their students to participate in the election. This could include re-scheduling assignments to accommodating students who are absent from class because they need that time to vote, Bueckert said.
