A recurring theme for recent municipal, provincial and federal elections is the need to get young people to vote.
Student Vote Saskatchewan is doing its part to get young people interested in democracy at a relatively early age. And while the 12,000 young people across the province who participated in Student Vote鈥檚 municipal 鈥渆lection鈥� late last month were too young to vote, it is hoped that their participation in the program will leave a life-long impact.
Students from five Estevan schools 鈥� Spruce Ridge, Pleasantdale, Westview, Estevan Comprehensive and Sacred Heart/Sacr茅 Coeur 鈥� participated in Student Vote prior to the Oct. 26 civic election.
Locally, the results for Student Vote largely mirrored their counterparts from the municipal election.
More than 340 students participated in the Student Vote 鈥渆lection鈥� in Estevan. Roy Ludwig captured 257 of the 341 votes cast in Estevan schools, or 75.3 per cent of the vote. It was almost identical to the 73.7 per cent share he had in the municipal election.
Jim Halladay was second with 51 votes, and Rhyan Hagel was third with 33.
鈥淚 was surprised with how closely the results aligned to the actual vote,鈥� said Carolyn Walliser, a Grade 7 teacher at Spruce Ridge. 鈥淎nd I was surprised with how enthusiastic the kids were about doing it. I think it鈥檚 because it was something that has been talked about in the community, so they could relate to it.鈥�
There were some differences between the results from Student Vote and the municipal election for councillors.
The six councillors elected through Student Vote were Trevor Knibbs with 273 votes, Travis Frank (253), Greg Hoffort (200), Brian Johnson (186), Shelly Veroba (186) and Dennis Moore (176). The other candidates were Kevin Smith (158), Lyle Yanish (143) and Cameron Robock (125).
In the municipal election, it was Veroba who finished first, followed by Hoffort, Knibbs, Frank, Yanish and Moore. Smith, Johnson and Robock were defeated.
Still, the student and adult voters agreed on five of the six successful candidates.
Walliser noted Student Vote is part of the Grade 7 curriculum at Spruce Ridge, and she said it fits in perfectly with their government and social studies.聽
鈥淚 hope they get the message of how important it is to vote, and learn about the election process,鈥� said Walliser. 鈥淪ome of them actually contacted the city councillors and asked questions about some of the things that were going on in Estevan.
鈥淎nd the city councillors were awesome. They would email them back answers.鈥�
Students were divided into groups and assigned a candidate to research. Then they shared their findings with their classmates, so that their peers had more information. A couple of the groups went as far to contact the candidates and interview them.
鈥淚t helped the kids realize their opinions really did matter,鈥� said Walliser. 鈥淚t really empowered them.鈥�
Access Communications sent in a DVD of the candidates forum that took place two weeks before the election. It allowed the Grade 7s to hear the thoughts of the candidates on each issue. They also read the candidates鈥� profiles that appeared in the Estevan Mercury.
Students also watched videos and PowerPoint presentations in advance so that they would understand the voting rules and processes.
Voting day for Spruce Ridge was on Oct. 25. A polling station was set up in one of the classrooms.
鈥淪tudent Vote provides you with nametags for the people who are working at the polling station,鈥� said Walliser. 鈥淭hey give you the tally sheets. We got the ballot boxes and the screens, so it resembled the actual vote as closely as possible.鈥�
Those who were interested in working at the polling stations let Walliser know in advance. Then she drew names randomly to determine who got the jobs. About 12 students worked the day of the Spruce Ridge election.
鈥淚t was a great experience for me, too, because Student Vote provided the materials, so you have all the materials to work with, and you just take what they give you, and you can run with it,鈥� said Walliser.
Nancy Bourbonnais, the Grade 7 and 8 French Immersion teacher at Sacred Heart/Sacr茅 Coeur, said they had nearly 50 students from both French Immersion and English classes who voted. It was the first time she was involved with leading the Student Vote process, and she came away impressed with how the program taught young people about democracy.
She noted that not only did they learn about the importance of voting, they learned about the different positions required for a vote, including a returning officer and poll clerks.
鈥淧eople have to count the ballots,鈥� said Bourbonnais. 鈥�(Students learn) how secretive it is, and about their right to vote.鈥�
They also learn the difference between a valid and a spoiled ballot. They were told they could vote for up to six candidates for councillor. But if they voted for a seventh, the ballot would be spoiled.聽
鈥淔or future reference, whenever it is their turn to vote, where it actually counts, that is a huge help, because I didn鈥檛 have that when I was a child, so for the first time I went to vote, I kind of knew what to do,鈥� said Bourbonnais. 聽
She suspects that Ludwig, Frank and Hoffort did well at Sacred Heart because they came to the school and talked to the students. And Knibbs probably received support because has backed a lot of different organizations in the community through his business at Power Dodge.
鈥淚 think it was names that they recognized that wound up with a lot of votes,鈥� said Bourbonnais.
Bourbonnais hopes students will be more willing to vote. In the weeks leading up to the election, students talked about the importance of voting, and their role as a citizen in a country, province or a municipality.
Student Vote is the flagship program of CIVIX, a national civic education charity.
