Adults weren’t the only ones casting a ballot in the most recent provincial election. Schools across the province also placed their vote through Student Vote Saskatchewan.
If the kids were in charge, the Saskatchewan Party would retain their majority government with 37 seats, while the NDP would gain the remaining 24 seats. The Green Party, Progressive Conservative Party, Buffalo Party, and Liberal Party would all be shut out. This was a smaller Sask Party majority than the actual vote, where they won 50 seats to the NDP’s 11.
In Yorkton, the student vote went to MLA Greg Ottenbreit, who took 207 votes to the NDP’s Carter Antoine’s 83 and the Green Party’s Judy Mergel’s 33.
In the region, Terry Dennis won for the students and the Sask. Party in Canora-Pelly, and Warren Kaeding won for the Sask. Party in Melville-Saltcoats.
This year was different from previous Student Vote programs, said YRHS teacher Perry Ostapowich, because COVID-19 restrictions meant that they didn’t hold a school-wide election like normal. Instead of the History 30 class administering the election for the entire 800-strong student body, they instead voted within their own class.
Student Vote is a program administered by CIVIX. The goal of the program is to increase engagement from students for the electoral process, with videos, activities and materials for teachers to teach parliamentary democracy, the different facets of elections and how they work along with sending materials for students to use in the classroom - ballots, voting stations, teacher resource guides.
