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October 03, 2008

Get off your ass and vote on October 14

Posted by Melissa Wilson at 10:20 AM ET

I'm still recovering from keeping up with the antics of last night's leadership debate ("Where are you hiding your platform?" Layton prodded Harper. "Under the sweater?" Just one of the many, many highlights from last night's festivities, which can be viewed at CBC online.) so for today I'm going to take a break from policy and propaganda and focus on something else.

It's no secret that less than two-thirds of Canadians of voting age will be hitting the polls on October 14th, and as shameful as that is, the Toronto Star reported today that less than a quarter of youth under 25 vote. When it comes to those who just reached the age of majority, the numbers drop even lower.

That is over two million people that could be voting that are not. That could make or break the election. That could push Dion or Layton into the PMO or push Harper into a majority government. Whether you're lazy, uninformed or just planning on falling into a turkey coma, get out there and vote.

If you don't want to pull on your turkey pants and venture out the day after Thanksgiving (which also happens to be a Jewish holiday), then don't. Vote today. Or tomorrow. Or Monday.

The Young Greens of Canada are calling today, the first day of advance polls (October 4 and 6, also), Youth Voter Day 2008. Check out the website for solid instructions on how to vote quickly and easily. If you're a student living away from home, you don't have to worry about trekking it back, you can simply vote where you're living now (residence, student ghetto, whatever.)

But before you do that, go and educate yourself on what each party is promising (or, in Harper's case, not promising) and then just do it.

Then again, I'm just one little person hiding behind an online handle. Don't want to listen to me? I wouldn't want to listen to me either, so here are some celebrities advocating the vote, after the jump.

Granted, these are all regarding the American election, but they still serve a pretty good purpose.

Check out Michael Moore's new movie, Slacker Uprising, which follows the filmmaker as he tries to inspire university and college students to vote in the 2004 election. You can download it for free, too.

Here's Leonardo DiCaprio urging you to vote by using some reverse psychology. Ohhh...tricky.

For those of you that don't care about washed up actors, here's Florida punk band Against Me! telling you to vote:

And finally, Christina Aguilera's spot for Rock the Vote. She's pretty hot, right? Do what she says.

More entries on: Election 2008

Previous: This Magazine liveblogs the October 2 English-language leaders' debate
Next: This blog has seven days

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Reader comments:

Honesty! Integrity! Sincerity! Leadership!

For me these are the things I looked for in last nights debate. I was impressed by Dion,Duceppe and May. I was both disappointed and shamed by Harper and astounded at the cavalier approach of Jack Layton. Most of all I felt moved by both May and Dion; however, May lost be on her final declaration of her priorities. Proportional representation would bring more chaos to parliamentary proceedings and fail to provide strong leadership on the world stage.

Although,Dion did refer to the strength that he could provide in the cabinet I was sorry that he didn't sell his great leadership which he has previously proven in the crafting of the Clarity Act. Dion also exercised "class" in not resorting to the tactics of Layton to bring about his vision for Canadians. I share his vision and would be proud to have him represent the Canadian people both in Parliament and on the world stage!

Posted by: Sharon at October 3, 2008 07:09 PM

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