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Social media outreach one strategy in courting the Millennial vote

By Kyle Edwards

The biggest challenge for the Millennial generation this fall will not be whether young people can make it to the ballot box, but rather finding something to vote for.

“Millenials won’t receive the proportion of the attention that the size of their population deserves,” said David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data, a Canadian market research firm.

Millennials between 18 and 34 represent 25 per cent of the electorate but because of low turnout among the younger demographic in past elections, Coletto said political parties are unlikely to spend 25 per cent of their time on them. The result will be political campaigns that cater towards policies directed at older people.

According to a survey done by Abacus Data — which polled 1,004 Canadians — the three issues Millennials are most concerned about are education, job creation and the environment. Millennials differ with older generations on issues concerning health care, retirement and financial security.

“It’s a group that while they’re big in terms of potential, in terms of power as an electorate aren’t as big,” Coletto said.

In the 2011 election, only 38.8 per cent of Canadians aged 18-24 voted, while 45.1 per cent of those 25-34 voted, according to Statistics Canada. That contrasts with those 65-74, 75.1 per cent of which showed up to vote.

Both Millennials and political parties have looked to the United States as a source of inspiration in order to strengthen the Millennial vote. The campaigns that helped elect and then re-elect U.S. President Barrack Obama in 2008 and 2012 were very successful in rallying young voters on college campuses through digital and social media.

The three major Canadian political parties have adopted these same strategies in order to reach Millennials, but Canada still lacks the political resources of the U.S., Coletto said.

Groups like the Young New Democrats of Canada and the Young Liberals of Canada have made social media outreach a priority. Last year the Young Liberals launched the online program Commit to Vote and it has seen thousands of young people make the pledge to vote this fall.

“We worked very closely with the Obama campaign and the Young Democrats and they helped design this program with us and it was very helpful,” said Justin Kaiser, leader of the Young Liberals.

“I wouldn’t say Millennials are lazy. I would say Millennials are quite smart,” he said. “They want their politicians to offer them something worth voting for, and I think that’s the big challenge that political parties have.”

The challenge for Paula Krasiun-Winsel, co-chair of the Young New Democrats, is being able to effectively engage with Millennials. She said she believes young people are discriminated against when it comes to federal politics in Canada.

“It’s the sort of stereotype that young people don’t care enough about politics,” she said. “It makes it difficult to engage with young voters because they believe the political system is working against them.”

In the digital age young people are increasingly more connected and can do almost everything online except vote.

Coletto said online voting may increase the turnout among Millennial voters but the problem is more fundamental.

“It’s something you have the right to do, but you only do if you have a sufficient understanding of the world, which most under 25-year-olds don’t,” Coletto said.

But in the recent Alberta election, 53 per cent of 18 to 29 year olds voted for the NDP, which included over 40 per cent of both college and university students, according to another Abacus Data survey.

Hayden King, an associate professor of politics at Ryerson University, said the Conservatives still have a natural advantage in the federal election because they are more popular among Canadians who are more likely to vote. This fall it will be up to the NDP and the Liberals to rally this huge part of the electorate, who are seen as the clear alternative.

“If young people get wrapped up in the election and the parties find a way to mobilize them, then the Millennials will play a critical part of the NDP or the Liberals’ paths to victory,” Coletto said.