A Lens on Youth Voting Trends: Dissecting the Average Youth Voter

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A dark blue and light blue presentation slide with text on the left, an image of a person on the right, and a QR code at the bottom left. The title reads 'CMN490 CAPSTONE PROJECT' and 'A Lens on Youth Voting Trends: Dissecting the Average Youth Voter', with the latter part in yellow. A white outline icon of a ballot box with a checkmark is next to the title. Below the text is a QR code with a 'SCAN ME' button. On the right, a circular headshot of a young woman with long dark hair and glasses, Geeta Harjani, is displayed, with her name printed below her image.

A Lens on Youth Voting Trends: Dissecting the Average Youth Voter

Geeta Harjani

A young woman with fair skin, long straight black hair parted in the middle, and black and silver framed glasses looks forward with a neutral expression. She is wearing a dark green turtleneck top. The image is a studio shot against a plain white background.

Biography

My name is Geeta Harjani, and I am a fourth-year Professional Communication student at the Toronto Metropolitan University with a minor in public relations. I currently work with the International Student Support (ISS) department at TMU as the WUSC TMU Chair and Ambassador. My role entails providing resettlement support to students with refugee backgrounds by offering connections, academic support, and integration support through the Student Refugee Program (SRP). In addition, I help educate and advocate for social change, by organizing awareness-raising events on-campus about global and refugee issues, our purpose is to reach youth across Canada. Moving forward, I hope to apply what I have learned throughout my four years in this program within the field of education, policy and social change.

Research Summary

In 2021, during the most recent Canadian federal election, only 47 percent of young voters between the ages of 18 to 24 years old cast their ballots, which is less than half of the total demographic. This is an alarming fact because our country runs on democracy, where we, as citizens, have the power to choose our representatives. However, if most young Canadians are not voting, then they are rendered invisible not just from the result polls, but also from the policies that are introduced and implemented across the nation. Their values and expectations become insignificant in the eyes of political representatives. This is why the purpose of my project is to answer the following research questions: (a) what are some of the key factors that influence young citizens’ decision to not participate in the electoral process; and (b) how can these factors contribute to the decline in youth voter turnout trends across Canada. I conducted a critical survey of the literature (an extended literature review) in the field of policy and politics, including studies based on youth participants and a collection of national youth survey reports. The findings from this study are divided into key categories or subtopics of factors that may impact the youth vote.

Tags

Politics, Society

Lightning Talk

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