OTTAWA – November 4th, 2019 - The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) officially wrapped up its 2019 Get Out The Vote (GOTV) campaign, successfully collecting over 35,000 pledges to vote from students and engaging with many more during the election period. CASA’s GOTV campaign involved 36 students associations across the country engaging in a non-partisan, voter mobilization effort to encourage students to vote in the federal election.

CASA’s 2019 GOTV campaign sought to break down the barriers that many students face in participating in Canadian elections. Often students are first-time voters who are unfamiliar with the voting process and do not know where to turn to have their questions answered. While attending post-secondary, many students are not located in their home ridings which creates a natural barrier to voting.  

To break down these barriers, CASA worked with Elections Canada and the Democratic Engagement Exchange to ensure students were receiving accurate information about voting in Canada. Elections Canada placed polling stations on 119 post-secondary campuses from October 5th-9th, that even allowed students to vote in their home ridings. CASA actively encouraged students to participate in these polling stations, and overall, more than 110,000 people voted on these campus stations.

“There are 2 million post-secondary students in Canada. This election, we set out the encourage a nationwide student participation in the democratic process” notes Adam Brown, Chair of CASA and VP External at the University of Alberta Students’ Union. “We collected thousands of pledges to vote from students across the country in every province and territory. Based on the participation of post-secondary students in the recent elections, it is clear that students are a demographic that parties of every political stripe should be listening to.”

While waiting for the official demographic breakdowns from Elections Canada, CASA is encouraged by the levels of participation from students in the GOTV campaign. Students have once again shown that they are a demographic that refuses to be apathetic. CASA looks forward to working with all parties moving forward to ensure that Canada has an accessible, affordable, innovative, and high quality post-secondary education system.

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About CASA:

Established in 1995, the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) is a non-partisan, not-for-profit, national student organization composed of 23 student associations representing 280,000 post-secondary students from coast to coast. With its partnership with the Quebec Student Union (QSU), CASA represents a total of 360,000 students across Canada and presents a national student voice to the federal government. CASA advocates for a Canadian post-secondary education system that is accessible, affordable, innovative, and of the highest quality.

Contact:

Annie Sherry, Director of Communications and Operations

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: 613-236-3457