October 13, 2016, 6:04 pm ADTLast Updated: April 5, 2017, 3:20 pm
Municipal election day is almost here. The lawn signs have been posted, the debates have been fought, the doors have been knocked on. But the most important question is still unanswered: who will go out and vote?
In 2012, less than 37 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot in the municipal election, according to the Voter Engagement in Halifax study. After months of campaigning and efforts to increase voter turnout, will more people go to the polls on Saturday?
The Signal took to the streets of Halifax to find out:
Alexander Michael: “Oh frigimajiggers, I know there’s an election going on! I love to vote. We’ve got a lot of jackhammers and a lot of building things that I want to change. But I don’t want to criticize. Everybody can criticize but they don’t run for election. Just vote. It’s the meat and potatoes things that (municipal politicians) are trying to think about.”
Shari Boudreau: “I have no idea what’s even going on because I don’t have cable because it’s too expensive. It’s hard to say if I’m planning on voting because there’s not enough information out there that’s not through social media or the internet, so I don’t know. Maybe I should be more interested in what’s going on.”
Jim Rehberg: “Oh ya, I’m planning on voting. I hope they start bringing more jobs back here, I hope that the taxes go down, because there’s no need of the taxes being that high. There’s too many people on unemployment, on welfare, and there’s no need of it. There’s a lot of people out there working hard for their money, and they get treated like shit far as I’m concerned.”
Ammanuel Shiferaw: “I voted in the early votes. I am a student, and maybe tuition fees could go down a little bit. I know the guy who’s running, my buddy, his name’s Lindell (Smith) so I just want him to win.”
Ryan Robson: “I am aware of the election and I plan on voting but I’m a little uninformed of what’s going on. I would like to get to know and vote. I worked at a shelter last year, so low income housing is important to me. I’m from Cape Breton actually so I’m more aware of the issues going on there than here.”
Tracy MacLaughlin: “I did the online voting. It was very good and very easy to do. Right now I’m on strike with the Chronicle Herald, I’ve been on strike for the last nine months, and I would like to see some of the labour laws changed. I’d like to see unions strengthened in the province. Things are better with unions than without unions. Life is better when there is a union.”
Ergim Cetinkaym: “I have some ideas about the election, but not a lot. I think the main problem here is that they increase the taxes a lot in this province, and I have problems with that because I am not paying the Canadian dollar for school and other stuff, because I am translating from Turkish money to Canadian money. If they decrease the taxes if will be really good for me.”
Alexandra Carr: “I have not voted yet. I plan on voting but I need to get my papers. But I normally do vote. I haven’t really been paying attention to what’s going on, but I live out in the Spry(field) area so I’m hoping they do something with J L. Ilsley High School. But I’m pretty happy, pretty satisfied.”
Holly Clark: “I would vote if I was more informed, but I’m new to the province and I don’t really know much about Nova Scotian politics. I would like tuition to be lower, but I don’t know if they have any jurisdiction on that. “
Peter MacNeil: “I have heard about the election and I do plan to vote. Employment is the biggest thing around here. They definitely need to work on Halifax Transit too, and public services. I take the bus in to work and it’s not usually a great time. I think that the city’s transportation is lacking.”
Love your use of photography and caption. Extremely engaging!