Five classrooms of King George Elementary School students took to the polls on Oct. 18 in their own mock federal election, and while their votes don’t count towards the official totals in this year’s federal election, teacher Michelle Gallagher thinks the experience was incredibly valuable.
The mock election, a program called Student Vote that is run by Elections Canada, took place in nearly 8,000 schools across Canada during the week prior to Election Day. More than one million students voted nationwide, with their votes tallied alongside the official votes and released on Oct. 21.
From King George, students from Grades 5 to 8 cast a ballot, with an impressive 90-per-cent voter turnout.
Materials from Elections Canada gave students the real election experience — complete with voting stations, ballot boxes, and designated student election officers.
“The ballots looked just like the ones that adults fill out, so students got to actually partake in an election exactly how it's run,” said Gallagher.
The exercise offered insight into the democratic process, said Gallagher, as students spent time learning about government and the platforms of all the different parties on the docket.
Students from King George took part in a very realistic version of the election on Oct. 18, even waiting to hear their results until the federal election polls closed. (supplied)Gallagher also saw the mock election as a great opportunity to talk about how important it is to be informed prior to voting and to let the students know that as Canadians, they will have a say.
“I wanted my students to know that they had a voice, and that it's important to take part in elections, make that informed vote,” said Gallagher. “(We talked about) how lucky we are in Canada that we do have a voice and we get to share it.”
She also finds it important to give students a chance to express their own informed opinions, especially with so much election talk going on.
“I think they hear their parents talking at home, and it's good that families discuss this, but I also said that it's good for them to make their own informed choice, read about the platforms and make a choice for what they believe in,” said Gallagher.
With the announcement of the election results Monday night, the national data from the Student Vote was also released to participating schools.
The tallied results had Canadian students also voting in a Liberal minority government, although they placed the New Democrat Party in the role of the official opposition, with 110 and 99 seats respectively. The Conservative Party took a close third in the eyes of the younger generation, with 94 seats.
For Gallagher, it’s interesting to see the difference between the youth vote and the adult vote, and with the data provided by Student Vote, there are a few more topics to discuss in the election aftermath.
“(Now that) we can see how they voted and compare it to how the actual election went, how it's similar or different, we can talk about why that might be,” said Gallagher.
“A lot of them were not happy that the Liberals were back in power but were hoping that a minority government might give us more of a voice,” she added. “[Now, we’ll] look at the results from last night and compare them to here, and talk about Western Canada's view and why it's different from Eastern Canada’s.”
Overall, Gallagher felt that it was a great demonstration of how politics work.
“I'm hoping that after they go through this process, they learned that they can be engaged and informed citizens,” said Gallagher. “And that they will go out and use that voice, and maybe even get involved in politics when they're older.”
