John Thibeau, candidate for District 10, joined by Bill Zebedee, candidate in Dartmouth Center, have sent a proposal to the City Hall calling for free Metro Transit rides for voters going to the polling station on October 20th.
“I’m aware this will require Metro Transit to operate at a partial loss that day but it will show the people that upcoming candidates and the current HRM council care enough about democracy to suffer that loss,” says Thibeau.
Zebedee adds, “You can’t say you want to engage people while limiting any opportunities for them to exercise their democratic right to vote.”
The people this will have the most benefit and impact for will be low income earners and seniors living in apartments. “When you live on a low income, even taking the bus to vote may be a necessary sacrifice when it comes to paying rent or providing food for you family,” Thibeau explains.
There are an estimated 3000 apartment units in District 10 and another 4800 in District 5.
“We’re not saying that everyone will want or need to take advantage of this initiative,” says Zebedee, “but we need to look at all the possible ways to increase last elections 34% voter turnout.”
Thibeau adds, “I’m very happy that Bill asked to join in promoting this initiative. We both agree that it would be great to see some more candidates publicly support this proposal to give a larger voice to the citizens of Halifax.
At the time of this release, no reply has been received from city hall.
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John Thibeau
Bill Zebedee
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