You may have heard about Vote Note and Vote Savvy's national call for a half day for voting. At Trent Votes, we've been working behind the scenes with Faculty and Administration to make voting accessible on October 19th. This week, we received some big news from our team of collaborators to help make this happen.
On Tuesday, the University Senate (it's like our system of governance -- kind of like the government -- here at Trent) passed a Student Motion for Academic Consideration for students who need extra time to vote on October 19th. You're probably thinking, "ok, that sounds great - but what does this mean?" If you are a student living downtown, you need time to vote. But October 19th is a Monday, and classes will still be running. So what happens if you're late to class? What we've asked for is that the University gives consideration to the time it takes to vote as a student. We've asked that they do not penalize you for being late to class because you were voting.
How do you receive academic consideration for voting?
1. We recommend talking to your TA, your Professor, and making people aware of the fact that you intend to vote and may be late to class. This isn't necessarily required, but it's always appropriate to communicate what is going on with the appropriate individual. Additionally, you can let your classmates know that voting on October 19th can happen - consideration will be given. And your professor will be pleased to hear you are taking an interest in the election.
2. If you have an exam or paper due, you need to discuss it with your professor/TA. Hopefully you can find time to vote around the exam or paper deadline, but if not (if you have multiple exams that day) you may want to discuss it with a professor or two.
3. If you have too many deadlines, we recommend voting in advance at Elections Canada's Peterborough Office (until October 13th at 6pm) or in the advanced polls (October 9th though 12th).
On Tuesday, the University Senate (it's like our system of governance -- kind of like the government -- here at Trent) passed a Student Motion for Academic Consideration for students who need extra time to vote on October 19th. You're probably thinking, "ok, that sounds great - but what does this mean?" If you are a student living downtown, you need time to vote. But October 19th is a Monday, and classes will still be running. So what happens if you're late to class? What we've asked for is that the University gives consideration to the time it takes to vote as a student. We've asked that they do not penalize you for being late to class because you were voting.
How do you receive academic consideration for voting?
1. We recommend talking to your TA, your Professor, and making people aware of the fact that you intend to vote and may be late to class. This isn't necessarily required, but it's always appropriate to communicate what is going on with the appropriate individual. Additionally, you can let your classmates know that voting on October 19th can happen - consideration will be given. And your professor will be pleased to hear you are taking an interest in the election.
2. If you have an exam or paper due, you need to discuss it with your professor/TA. Hopefully you can find time to vote around the exam or paper deadline, but if not (if you have multiple exams that day) you may want to discuss it with a professor or two.
3. If you have too many deadlines, we recommend voting in advance at Elections Canada's Peterborough Office (until October 13th at 6pm) or in the advanced polls (October 9th though 12th).