Students: Tips For Making Sure You Can Vote in the October 14 Federal Election

Like all other voters, students must be at least 18 years old on October 14 and be a Canadian citizen to be eligible to vote in the Canadian Federal General Election.

As well, under the new rules stemming from the Conservative reforms to the Canada Elections Act, voters must be able to prove their identity and their address.

If you do not have a driver’s licence or other government identification with a photo and current address, you will need two pieces of identification with your name, one of which must include your address.

The following link to the Elections Canada website will give you information about the kind of identification that is deemed acceptable for proving your identity and address:

How To Vote

Locally, most University of Victoria and Camosun College students are eligible to vote in Victoria if they choose to designate their Victoria home as their “ordinary place of residence.” Students may also choose to vote in the riding where their family home is or in another riding where they have a home that they choose to designate as their “ordinary place of residence.”

On-campus students may register and vote before election day either directly at the returning office at 3941 Shelbourne Street until 6 p.m. on October 7, or at the advanced polls October 3, 4 and 6 from noon to 8 p.m. at Cadboro Bay United Church at 2625 Arbutus Road. Or, on Election Day, October 14, they may vote between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. in the lobby of the B Wing of the University Centre.

Elections Canada has delivered Attestation of Residence Forms to Housing Services for students living in residence at UVic who wish to vote in Victoria. These will be given out ON REQUEST and students will definitately need one of these forms in order to vote at the advance polls.

Housing services can also provide a card to on-campus students indicating their address and room number on campus. Contact Grace Wong Sneddon at Housing Services at gwongsne@uvic.ca for more information.

For Election Day, Housing Services has also agreed to provide the campus polling station with a list of all students in residence attached to an Attestation of Residence Form, so students will just have to show up with their student card and their name will be crossed off the list.