Hanwell named CASA Director of Advocacy, will lead federal Get out the Vote campaign

Students still exhausted from the provincial election will have the entire summer to relax, but it won’t last long. Once the Fall 2015 term commences, the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) will be rolling out their Get out the Vote campaign for the impending federal election.

University of Alberta Students’ Union Vice-President (External) Dylan Hanwell, who is also CASA’s Director of Advocacy, will be leading the national campaign to get post-secondary students to the voting booths this October.

“I’m really excited for the Get out the Vote campaign,” Hanwell said. “That’s one of the reasons why I wanted to be (CASA Director of Advocacy).

“I’m consistently looking for those times to engage with students.”

CASA is a national student advocacy organization comprised of 21 student associations across Canada, including the SU who lobby the government for an “accessible, innovative and highest quality” post-secondary system.

Hanwell said the federal Get out the Vote campaign will take cues from the Council of Alberta Students’ (CAUS) provincial Get out the Vote campaign, which collected approximately 2,000 signups at the U of A and 10,000 in the province. CASA has set those numbers as a benchmark and goal, Hanwell said.

The “successes” from CAUS’ campaign will be translated and utilized in CASA’s campaign, Hanwell added.

The provincial election campaign had volunteers approach students, ask if they were planning to vote in the election, and if so, had their contact information gathered so organizers could contact them during election season.

Those who pledged to vote in the provincial election are already on the contact list for the federal election.

One of the difficulties CAUS and the SU faced in the provincial Get out the Vote campaign was the timing of the provincial election. Former Premier of Alberta Jim Prentice called for an Alberta election during exam season, which proved troublesome since many students were either busy studying or off campus.

Hanwell said one of the most effective campaign strategies was integrating the Get out the Vote campaign with existing campus events that had high attendance, but the Alberta canvassing period took place when such events were scarce on campus. With an October 2015 election date, Hanwell said large campus-wide events such as the annual Week of Welcome, Orienation and “the lines at the beer gardens” will be prime recruitment hubs, especially for new first-year U of A students.

Aside from the Get out the Vote campaign, Hanwell said he’s looking forward to lobbying the government on the rules and regulations of the Canadian Student Loans Program and the bolstering access to the Canadian Student Grants program as CASA’s Director of Advocacy.