Received at 5:00 pm, Saturday, April 16th, 2011. Approximately 16 hours, 40 minutes from when I sent it (of course, I send it late at night, just to put that into perspective). I'm impressed.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I absolutely appreciate your frustration. I work at McMaster as a staff rep for CUPE 3906, which represents teaching assistants, research assistants and post-doctoral fellows. I think it's extremely important for university students to have a voice in Ottawa and I'm very upset that special ballots have been disallowed this election. The former President of the Mac NDP, Todd White (who was also active in the ADFW NDP riding association until he graduated and moved out of Hamilton) was actually the one responsible for getting a special ballot at McMaster in the first place. We are thus especially disappointed that the Mac special ballot will not be held this year.
I absolutely agree with your comments about students wanting to vote in ADFW even if they're planning on going elsewhere for the summer. In fact, when I talk to students I encourage them to vote in this riding. It's where you spend most of the year. It's where your university is located. And (to put in a partisan plug), this time a member of your own university community is running for the NDP. I've already been part of our local campaigns to reduce tuition fees and I'm running for a party that's committed to increasing federal funding for post-secondary education (which will help the restore per student funding in Ontario and reduce tuition fees), introducing a system of student grants for undergrads, reducing interest rates on student loans and putting more money into the grants that graduate students depend on.
I'm not sure if you know this, but political parties typically help their supporters get out to vote. It's common practice to drive supporters to the polls on advanced polling dates or on e-day. My campaign will do the same for our supporters at Mac and Mohawk. We'll drive you out to Rockton to vote in person by special ballot. We'll help you vote by mail (ie. if you need help with the postage or with faxing a document). We'll drive to an advanced poll or to your poll on E-Day. The other parties should do the same for their supporters.
If you or your friends want to vote NDP, but are having difficulty getting to a poll for whatever reason, just get in touch with us and we'll help you sort it out. Drop by our office at 4 Newton Avenue in Westdale (near the corner of King and Sterling), give us a call at 905-218-6500 or send us an email at nancymacbain@fed.ndp.ca.
The NDP has already spoken out against the attempt to quash the special ballot at Guelph. I've contacted the party to see if they have any plans to deal with the issue on a national level. I will also put in request to the returning office to see if there's anything that can be done about the special balloting rules.
Sincerely,
Nancy MacBain
Here's the second, a much shorter reply from Dave Braden of the Liberal Party.
Received at 5:07 pm, April 16th, 2011. Approximately 17 hours, 50 minutes from when I sent it (The first one sent out was directed to him).
Hi Austin,
Thanks very much for laying out your concerns about student voting procedures. I am investigating the changes that Elections Canada has made and am checking to see if they are offering alternatives that might help students. I'll get back to you.
I hope you'll introduce yourself to me Monday night.
Thanks
Dave
On the 17th, Dave Braden clarified the issue on his website, in this post.
As of 6:35 pm, no other replies from other candidates have been received.
The other replies will be posted as they come in.
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