Imagine a group of ninjas sweeping into polling stations and turning the election on its head.
That’s the idea behind a new campaign to promote youth voting.
“Our biggest thing was to try to get people excited about voting,” said Belle River native Nicolas Hyatt.
The 28-year-old and his partner Annie Charlebois, 26, decided to launch the VoteNinja campaign as another way to encourage youth to get out to the polls.
“When we started talking about doing a civic engagement project, the idea was to get something catchy, have a fun campaign with it,” Charlebois said.
“It would be great if people feel empowered by it, proud that they were part of the movement.”
The two created the website VoteNinja.ca with all the basic information on how to register to vote and cast a ballot on election day. They blend those details in with social media from the hashtag #voteninja and #realninjasvote.
Charlebois said she liked the idea of ninjas as powerful, knowleadgeable and in control. They may be fun, but they also represent confidence and strength.
“By telling people to be vote ninjas, we want them to feel confident in their act, empowered and part of a community,” she said. “Voting isn’t as scary as some of us think it is.”
Hyatt said he’s been involved in activities to improve civic engagement for years, including programs for high school and college students.
In 2011, the musician tried a social media campaign with videos and songs about the election.
“It’s hard to translate social media enthusiasm to people going out to the polls,” he said.
This time, Hyatt said the two designed the campaign as a non-partisan approach aimed primarily at empowering youth to learn more about the election and get out to the polling stations.
It already seems to be working. They’ve gotten emails with questions about how to vote by mail, how advance polls work, and where they can vote.
“The biggest thing is to get people to vote for the first time,” Hyatt said. “A lot of people say once they’ve registered to vote, they immediately started caring more. They felt like they could have an impact.”
