By Ana Higuera
Ana is a volunteer journalist at Focus Media Arts Centre

In this episode of the '4GetAboutIt!' Youth Radio Collective, the hosts interview community resident, Murshida Mueen, about the election and voting process for residents in Regent Park. Murshida is an active community member of Regent Park who advocates with the Community Civic Engagement Collaborative and is working this year with Elections Canada as a CRO (Community Recruiting/Relations Officer) to inform residents about voting in the Federal Election.

The Community Civic Engagement Collaborative is a non-partisan network of residents and organizations residing and serving in the Regent Park, Moss Park, St. James Town and Cork Town neighbourhoods whose aim is to increase voter participation by informing as many members of the Regent Park community on when, where, how and who is eligible to vote in the Federal Election. Low-income communities as well as immigrants are less likely to be engaged in the voting process for many reasons, including barriers surrounding knowledge of the voting process; its these folks people like Murshida want to reach and support, so that they can voice their and the needs of the community through the democratic vote.

To vote, you must be a Canadian citizen, 18 or older and be registered to vote. Register at the Online Voter Registration Service or at your assigned polling station on election day (Sept. 20th) with two pieces of ID and proof of address (if you do not have a permanent address, you can still register). You can find your polling station on the Elections Canada website by using your postal code. You can also plan ahead and vote by mail for which the deadline was September 14th.

The '4GetAboutIt!' Youth Collective are youth from Regent Park who are involved with Radio Regent, a 24-hour community digital radio station (www.radioregent.com) operated by Focus Media Arts Centre (FOCUS).