{"id":12621,"date":"2019-10-21T19:02:01","date_gmt":"2019-10-21T22:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=12621"},"modified":"2019-10-21T19:02:01","modified_gmt":"2019-10-21T22:02:01","slug":"election2019-fall-river-area-first-time-voters-cast-ballot-to-make-a-difference-in-their-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=12621","title":{"rendered":"#Election2019: Fall River-area first-time voters cast ballot to make a difference in their communities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BEAVER BANK:<\/strong>\n Maryssa Deveau voted in Monday\u2019s federal election because she wanted to\n make a difference and not stand back and watch it all happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Beaver Bank woman was one of three first-time voters that spoke with The<\/em> Laker who cast their ballots on Oct. 21 in the federal election for a candidate in the Sackville-Preston-Chezzetcook riding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deveau,\n 18, has just recently become of voting age. Instead of not voting as \nsome of her peers decided to do, she wanted to take action on what she \nwanted to see happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI felt it was important to vote because I wanted to take action on the change that I want,\u201d said Deveau. \u201cI didn\u2019t just want to sit back and watch it all happen without being able to make a difference. To me voting is one way to help make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Beaver Bank\u2019s Maryssa Deveau was one of the many in the riding who cast their ballots for their first-time in a federal election. Three of those first-time voters spoke to The Laker. (Submitted photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

She\n said she came to the decision on who she was voting for by learning \nabout what each party was promising with their platform, but also \nlearning about who was running in her area, as they will be the main \nones affecting my community and the changes that happen in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the lead up to the election I have put in a lot of time to doing research on the different party\u2019s,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Katie Miller and friend Haleigh Tone, both of Fall River, voted together. They did so because, as they say, \u2018as students, whoever leads our country for this term will determine our future.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur generation may not care now, but four years down the road, they definitely will,\u201d said Miller and Tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both\n were forthcoming with who they voted for\u2014candidate Matt Stickland and \nthe NDP. They said that the NDP\u2019s platform mostly aligned with our \nviews. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe NDP cares a lot about students in Canada, lower class families and health care,\u201d said Miller. \u201cWe feel very strongly about these issues and we feel that NDP would be able to help move that agenda forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Katie Miller and Haleigh Tone, both of Fall River, were among first-time voters who spoke to The Laker about why they wanted to ensure they voted in the Oct. 21 federal election. (Submitted photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Miller\n said it was challenging for her and Tone to decide who to vote for when\n they felt like they were being pushed towards certain parties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe decided to choose for who we believed in the most,\u201d said Miller. \u201cIt was a hard choice but we think we made the right one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two did have some tips they hope future voters will heed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t\n let the people around you pressure you into voting for a party,\u201d said \nthe two. \u201cDo your own research and figure out which party best suits \nyour views.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Linell Vonkeman became a Canadian citizen last year and was excited about making her mark on a ballot this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t get to vote in my home country of South Africa\u2019s election earlier this year and in 2014, so voting this year was a no-brainer,\u201d she told The Laker<\/em>. \u201cIn Canadian history there have been too many people who fought for the right to vote that it would be unfair for us to just take this privilege for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Emily Saulnier, 20, voted for the first time when she went to the LWF Hall in Fall River on Election Day. She said she watched each of the debates; interviews and researched to find out which party she wanted to choose. Saulnier found the process difficult. (Submitted photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Fall\n River resident Emily Saulnier said she watched each of the debates; \ninterviews and researched to find out which party she wanted to choose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201dI\n found it extremely important for me to be able to cast a vote,\u201d said \nSaulnier. \u201cAs a women and a persons with a disability I was able to have\n a voice and have an opinion. Especially as a first time voter I was \nable to actually have a say instead of older people having one for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does Deveau have any advice for future first-time voters? She sure does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo\n your research on the party\u2019s, who\u2019s running in your area and who\u2019s the \nleader of each party,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s only good to vote when you know \nwhat your voting for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saulnier did have a few words of advice for those who will be casting their ballots in future elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want them to fight for their future,\u201d she said. \u201cBecome well educated on every party.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEAVER BANK: Maryssa Deveau voted in Monday\u2019s federal election because she wanted to make a difference and not stand back and watch it all happen. The Beaver Bank woman was one of three first-time voters that spoke with The Laker who cast their ballots on Oct. 21 in the federal election for a candidate in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[685,12],"tags":[10,93,811,2,624,834,835,627],"class_list":["post-12621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elections","category-featured","tag-beaver-bank","tag-darrell-samson","tag-election-2019","tag-fall-river","tag-federal-election","tag-first-time-voters","tag-ndp","tag-sackville-preston-chezzetcook"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}