Canada's low voter turnout gets 'F-minus-minus' in Facebook video

A UBC student has posted a video on Facebook highlighting Canada's low voter turnout in the 2011 federal election, with the aim of getting more people to turn out at the polls this time around.

Matthew Kowlayk notes that in 2011 only 61 per cent of eligible voters turned out to vote.

"We're Canada. We can do better than an F-minus-minus," he concludes in the video.

Kowlayk first made the video in 2011 and updated last week it for the 2015 elections. He then posted to Facebook on Wednesday and it took off, collecting more than 800,000 views.

"It started getting some momentum round about Saturday morning, so I made a French version and put it up Saturday night."

Kowalyk says the idea was to illustrate that every vote counts, and that a small number of people can elect a government.

"I tried to make it as simple as possible and non-partisan to get everyone out."

And it does appear voting numbers will be up this year if advance polls are any indication.

Over the long weekend 2.4 million Canadians turned out to vote in advanced polls a 16 per cent increase over 2011 with long line-ups and delays creating frustration with many voters.

Butsome on social media took advantage of the wait times to poke fun and also consider the bright side. By using the hashtag #PollWatch, voters from all over the country have been sharing their stories.

Facebook: Watch Matthew Kowalyk's video

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