Skip to content

Be informed going into the election by VoteMate

A helpful tool going into the Federal election.
APP
Laef Kucheran - Photo submitted.

With the election less than a week away many voters are still scratching their heads as to who to vote for. Busy lives can certainly deter some from doing their homework and researching the different party platforms, but what if there was an easier way for you to get all the information you needed in one place.

As the world progresses into a more technology driven society the constant demand to have information readily available pushes the envelope.

Laef Kucheran, 18, has taken matters into his own hands and has created VoteMate.org to do just that. Over the past five years Kucheran has spent countless hours in the dark, sipping away on latte's and mastering the art of code.

Kucheran says all the information on VoteMate is obtained from party websites, press releases and news reports. Candidates and parties also have the ability to join and provide information themselves. He said candidates from all of the major parties, as well as the smaller ones, have hopped on board to provide particulars and augment their profiles.

When you first land on the website you will get a description of what it entails. It allows you to talk with candidates, see profiles and various policies which will assist you in making your decision leading up to the polls. There are different features you can choose and you can even see all the ridings from all the provinces and territories.

"The one that blows me away every time that I roll it out is party comparisons. Being able to see every single policy of a party side-by-side related to each particular issue. Every single party categorizes an issue differently. The Conservative Party of Canada, for example, would put a carbon tax under affordability (they're removing the carbon tax), whereas the Liberal Party of Canada, the Green Party of Canada or New Democratic Party would place it under an environmental affection. So having all that information in the same place, all next to each other with a lot of the spin taken out, the structure is as impartial as unbiased as you can make it," explains Kucheran.

"The goal here is to provide information available for everyone, no matter what age you are, no matter your interest in politics, just to have the information you need to vote at your fingertips."

Although he is young, he is informed. Kucheran has spent plenty of time getting this website off the ground and says the most tedious part was gathering all the information.

"There are 2,073 candidates across all of Canada right now, I've contacted 1,332 of them in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. So that's a lot of people to keep track of, it's a lot of information to handle," said Kucheran. "It's enjoyable. I like handling information like that, I like learning these things, I like organizing information, and I like writing stories."

Elections Canada saw a rise in young voters ages 18 to 24 from 38 per cent in 2011 to 57 per cent in 2015. It is said that if you vote for the first time after you turn 18, chances are you will likely continue to vote. However, If you do not vote after you turn 18 you are less likely to begin to do so.

If you are looking for a primary place to educate yourself of your riding and its candidates take a look at Kucherans' VoteMate.org before the federal election sneaks up on you.

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks