Teenagers set to work the polls on election day in Regina

Even though some of them can’t legally cast a ballot yet, dozen of Grade 12 students will be working at polling places around Regina on Monday for election day.

Elections Canada allows 16 and 17 year olds to work at polling places despite their age. And 31 Grade 12 students will be taking advantage of the opportunity after learning about elections and democracy through an Elections Canada module in school.

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Zahin Jeena and Avril Hatitchki both took the course at Luther College High School. Jeena said it was really impactful for him.

“I realized how important elections were in changing the outcome of our country,” he said.

Though, at least at first, the main motivation for him was the pay.

“It was kind of hard to deny that, I guess, because there’s not many opportunities in school where you could do a course that would lead to a job that you could get paid for,” he said.

Hatitchki said it was an easy decision to apply to be an information officer because she just turned 18.

“The voting process was kind of scary and new to me, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. So I kind of thought, OK, if I work the election I have nothing to be afraid of and I know what the process is like, and that would take away from the nerves,” she said.

Cali Cloutier went through the course at Michael A. Riffel High School, and she wants to work in government in Ottawa one day. She said that made it an easy decision to work during this election.

“It is really nice to be only 18 and be able to actually get my hands on what the system I want to work in actually looks like, and not only that, the system that I live in,” she explained.

When you think about an election, Cloutier said you normally just think about the candidates.

“It’s really nice to be able to see people… who are working behind the scenes who don’t get as much recognition, and then you know that that’s so much more going on than you think,” she said.

Also hailing from Riffel, Leiyanne Nepacena said when you’re under 18 it seems like you’re left out of the conversation around elections.

“So it’s an amazing opportunity to get involved and kind of solidify the idea in you that your participation matters and that you have something to contribute, even if you’re not old enough to vote yet,” said Nepacena.

All four of the teens were excited about election day – they’ll start work at 6:30 a.m. and potentially have a 14- or 15-hour day ahead of them before the ballots are all counted.

Jeena pointed out that they won’t be able to leave the polling place at all during the day in order to prevent things like vote tampering.

“Seeing actual processes in place to preserve democracy is really interesting, and it shows that there are aspects to keep democracy alive,” he said.

Polling places will be open 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, voters can find their polling places through Elections Canada’s website.