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Encouraging Indigenous voters

August 18, 2015
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Saskatchewan organization is trying to get more of us to the polls

Glenda Abbott and Melody Wood are working hard to increase the rates of voting among Indigenous people.

The next federal election, on Oct. 19, could be a really important one, with the results completely up in the air. And for Abbott and Wood, the new laws in place after the government passed the Fair Elections Act last year, are likely going to make things more difficult for voters.

That’s one reason why the two, through the group Indigenous Vote Saskatchewan, are working with volunteers to help as many First Nations, Métis and Inuit as possible to vote.

"Hopefully with community support as well as our volunteers, together we can make things happen in communities," Abbott told the CBC.

There are plenty of barriers to voting, if we don’t take the Fair Elections Act (with more strict ID requirements) into account. Indigenous people in Canada have some of the lowest turnout rates for a number of reasons — feeling disconnected from this place called Canada, for example.

First Nations people were only given the right to vote in 1960.

Read more about Indigenous Vote Saskatchewan, courtesy of the CBC, here.

Photo source: Elections Canada

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