PRINCE ALBERT — Carlton Comprehensive Collegiate took part in Student Vote mock election program on Monday, which happened to be Election Day in Canada.
Kelly Klassen is in charge of the Student Vote at Carlton. He said the way the year broke down, combined with the delayed arrival of the ballots, meant students couldn’t vote until Monday.
"It's just the timing of the election and Easter holidays, so we had to do a different format,” Klassen explained. “We chose to do the mobile voting, which was a method that Elections Canada or the Student Vote people said was acceptable.”
As part of the mock vote, students at Carlton took on the roles of election officials to co-ordinate the voting process for their peers. CIVIX, the organization that oversees the event each election, will tabulate the results by constituency and release them publicly following the close of polls.
Groups of two students delivered classroom voting booths and secret ballot protection independently.
Klassen said that he believed the real format with the actual voting booths set up was the better format, but he was still glad students had a chance to learn about the electoral process.
“The way I see it is you're trying to teach them the benefits of voting and what the election process is like,” he said. “It was just such a tight range that I would rather do it in a system where they're actually going to a polling site, getting their names struck off the list and actually experiencing (an election) because it doesn't happen in real life where they come to my house…. But it is a way that at least they see what a ballot looks like. They see choices, and the teacher would have shared a little bit of platform ideas.”
Klassen noted that having the voting on Election Day helped make a connection for students.
"That is a cool part of it,” he said. “Normally we would have done this like a week or two ago, and they might have not really made the connection.”
Sidney Rupert is in Grade 12. With partner Leo Ferguson, she delivered voting materials in the afternoon.
"We are going around to classrooms and asking for Grade 11 and 12 to vote and we're just going to be setting up in the rooms instead of them coming down to the gallery,” Rupert explained.
Rupert liked the whole concept of Student Vote.
"I think it's a really good idea because it gives us insight into what schools believe and (whether) adults affect what students' opinions are,” she said.
Rupert hoped that the new format would help to get more students interested in the Student Vote.
"I do think that the end that this could get a lot of interest,” she said. “Do parents or teachers affect the way like teenagers do things or is it just our opinions.”
According to Student Vote, more than 7,100 schools across all 343 electoral districts from coast to coast have signed up to participate, and as many as 800,000 elementary, intermediate and secondary students are expected to cast ballots for their official candidates.
Following the close of polls on election day, Student Vote results will be tabulated and publicly released, including the nationwide seat breakdown, results by electoral district, and individual school tallies.
Schools participating in Prince Albert include Carlton, Wesmor, St. Michael Community School, Ecole Valois, North View Adult Learning Centre, Holy Cross School, Ecole St. Anne School, King George Community School, Prince Albert Collegiate Institute, St. John Community School, Osborne School, St. Catherine Catholic School and Red Wing School.
Results from Student Vote 2025 were not available by press time.
