Voting drive

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The city is hoping to drive up voter turnout this municipal election with a mobile voting van and a new marketing campaign.

With only 38.5 per cent of eligible voters turning out for the 2006 election, city clerk John Hannam said the city wants to bring numbers back in line with the historic 51 per cent average. So for this year’s Oct. 25 election, the city will have a voting van driving around the city to large office buildings and institutions for advanced polling. Hannam said the van is a first in North America.

"I just kind of turned that around and said ‘well how about we take the polls to the people,’" Hannam said. "We’re hoping that makes it easier for folks and that takes away some of the excuses for not voting."

The van will feature a tent with everything a standard polling station would have from booths to voter registration. The schedule has yet to be finalized but TBayTel, Intercity Shopping Centre and Lakehead University are among the stops scheduled.

Hannam said the van is part of a $35,000 marketing campaign to reach youth and Aboriginal voters too. Traditionally those demographics have been underrepresented in municipal, provincial and federal elections.

Working with student unions at Confederation College and Lakehead University, the city will have polling stations on campus on election day to make youth under 30 more aware of the importance of municipal elections and municipal government said Hannam.

"They should exercise their right to vote when the opportunity is presented," Hannam said.

When speaking with Aboriginal groups, the city discovered a major reason why native people in Thunder Bay don’t vote is because they think they’re not eligible. Hannam said people from the region move to the city and think they can only vote for their previous local governments. But any Canadian citizen over 18 who lives in the city can vote he said.

"You simply have to be a resident," Hannam said. "If you moved into Thunder Bay tomorrow you’re a resident."

Hannam is hoping these strategies will show improvement over 2006 come election day.

"We’d like to see more people vote because it demonstrates a greater participation by the community in our local government and we think that’s important just for its own self," he said.