Wasiimah Joomun. (Photo: Submitted)
The New Brunswick Student Alliance (NBSA) is concerned that polling stations will not be available on campuses during the provincial election.
Students who rely on polling stations on campus to vote will have to find another way to participate in the election.
Bibi Wasiimah Joomun, executive director of the NBSA, said they’re trying to get the information out online.
“We are kind of disappointed to see this decision was made by Elections NB and also we’re kind of disappointed to see that there was no consultation or anything done with us. We didn’t know about this,” she said.
Wasiimah Joomun said she was told time constraints made it impossible to execute polling stations on campus, but she suspects there were also financial difficulties.
“As an organization that advocates for accessibility and inclusiveness for post-secondary students, this is a big barrier for students. Because the reason to why we first started advocating to having polling stations on campus is to break that barrier that exists with first-time voters, post-secondary to go voting,” she said.
Wasiimah Joomun said she knows youth are sometimes seen as apolitical or are not as engaged with politics but the research shows something different.
“Data, stats and reports show that from the past two provincial elections, we have seen a significant increase in young people voting from the age of 18 to the age of 24 and when we look at the data of people who vote on campuses the number has significantly increased over the past two provincial elections,” she said.
Wasiimah Joomun said they’re encouraging students to mail out their votes or to vote before they come to campus to make it easier instead of mailing in their vote.
Elections New Brunswick did not respond to our request for comment.
