Elections PEI recruiting young Islanders to help run the polls this fall

With municipal elections on the horizon, Elections PEI is doing something a little different with its recruiting strategy this time around byactively recruiting young people to help run the polls.

Paul Alan, the manager of election operations and communications, says Elections PEI is looking for a cohort of young, computer-savvy Islandersto play significant roles in the process.

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And the qualifications are pretty simple, he said, you just have to be a resident of P.E.I. there's no age limit required for municipal elections.

"We find young people are becoming more passionate about politics. And we want to reach them front and centre," he said.

"If you're a responsible person, and you got good computer skills, our returning officer probably wants to talk to you."

Get involved and 'stay with it'

When voters head to the polls this year they'll be voting in the traditionalballot box, Alan said, but computers will be used to help people register to vote if they haven't already.

It's partly for that reason that Elections PEI is actively recruiting young Islanders, for their ability to wield computers and tech with ease.But he alsohopesbeing involved in the election process encourages them to remain politically engaged for years to come.

"There's some youth groups for different political parties, there's youth groups encouraging other youth to vote and I love to see that and we're just trying to help them out and get them involved in the process," he said.

"Whether they want to be an information officer at our polling stations, or be a registration clerk on the computer, then when it comes time to vote hopefully they will cast that first vote when they turn 18 and they'll stay with it and stay with that electoral process throughout their life."

Voter Registration Week began Mondayand runs to Sunday, Sept. 16. Elections PEI will be campaigning online and in-person to get people to register.

On Tuesday, Alan said, Elections PEI is atUPEI encouraging people to register and to work at thepolls.

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