The Martlet

For UVic students from outside the city, where or how to vote in the upcoming federal election may be as confusing as to who to vote for.

Where to start

To find electoral districts, search your postal code at Elections.ca. There you’ll find the candidates running in your area and the location of your voting station.

Many students are only interested in the political party or who’ll be the next prime minister, but others are more concerned with the local candidate. If this is the case, where you vote can be a major issue.

According to returning officer Kerry Fedosenko, it all depends on your address. If you’re living in Victoria currently and you haven’t officially changed your address, you have to vote in the electoral district of the address you’re registered in. Now you have a few options.

How to decide

If you want to vote in the district your address is in, register to vote through the mail by downloading the form from the Elections.ca and either mail or fax it in.

Dan Garneau from Elections Canada suggests voters fax it in so that it arrives on time: before 6 p.m. on Oct. 7. A kit will be sent to you containing all the information and forms needed to vote from afar.

If Canada Post is too old school for you, another option is to either phone or go directly to your Returning Office, listed on the website.

How to switch

If you’re following the campaigns of local candidates and prefer to vote in your current riding, change your address now. Like, today.

Go to AddressChange.gov.bc.ca to update, then contact Elections Canada to confirm. Addresses are usually updated each year. However, changing too close to the election might not go through in time. You may be better to phone: 1-866-499-8027.

When voting, bring proper identification like government issued photo ID with your name and address (like a driver’s license), or two original pieces of ID authorized by the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada (such as a health card or hydro bill). One piece must have your address. Or, you can have another voter vouch for your identification, but they must be in your voting district and must have acceptable pieces of identification.