Young voters are engaged, and want reform

Many will cast ballots for change, Jenelle Davies says.

In last week’s electoral reform leaders’ debate, Premier John Horgan said: “If you’re woke, you know that pro rep is lit.” Sure, it was a total dad thing to say, but for politically engaged young people like me, it was such a refreshing change of pace. He’s saying he actually cares about youth participation.

I am increasingly frustrated by how frequently I hear some older people say that young people are “apathetic” or “disengaged” when it comes to politics. Every time I hear that from a pundit, journalist or politician, I’m confused — their words suggest young people are lazy and don’t get involved, but our actions show the opposite.

Many young people are leaders of social change in Canada and the U.S. In the U.S., thousands of high school students are leading the fight for gun reform laws. In Ontario, thousands of high school students walked out to protest changes the Doug Ford government is making to sex education. In Richmond, students have rallied in support of modular housing in their neighbourhood. Across the continent, young people are on the front lines, fighting for the rights of Indigenous peoples. Many young people aren’t just involved, we are leading the charge.

On Nov. 6, I watched the votes come in for the U.S. midterm elections. Although it is too early to see the figures on youth voter turnout, there’s no question that millions of young people came out to the polls. The midterms resulted in a record number of women holding seats in the U.S. Congress, including the election of 29-year-old Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, the youngest person ever elected to that office.

In Canada, we’re making inroads as well. In the last federal election, those aged 18 to 24 had the highest increase in voter turnout at 18.3 per cent, and those aged 25 to 34 saw an increase of more than 12 per cent. Young people not only came out to the polls, many of them voted for change and helped topple Stephen Harper’s Conservative government. Likewise, in the 2017 B.C. election, youth voter turnout increased by more than eight per cent — the highest increase of any age bracket.

The activism and fight for social change, paired with these numbers, make it clear: many young people care, we are engaged, and are fighting for our future.

British Columbians are being asked to vote on a new electoral system. It is an incredibly important decision. Whether we want to keep the first-past-the-post system or try something different. Unfortunately, too much of the political discourse on this issue has been dominated with fearmongering and misleading comments. The “No” side released videos featuring Nazilike soldiers goose-stepping and armed uprisings as examples of what will happen if votes are counted a different way. As young people, we have to question the opponents of PR who use alarmist, inflammatory language.

Some young people feel disenfranchised with an electoral system that’s unfair and unrepresentative. Under PR, gone will be the days where 40 per cent of the vote gives you 100 per cent of the power. Having a proportional system can help decrease the cynicism some young people have in the political systems by making the government more reflective of the voters.

Many young people don’t want to keep a system where our vote won’t always count. They want a voting system that will force political parties to co-operate more with one another and, more importantly, be accountable and truly representative of their constituents.

This referendum, many young people will be voting for change.

In the last federal election, those aged 18 to 24 had the highest increase in voter turnout at 18.3 per cent.