Students across the province made their voices heard by voting in a mock provincial election.
Civix program, Student Vote Alberta brought democracy to life in classrooms across the province, as it coincided with the 2023 provincial election on May 29.
“Student Vote is an experiential civic literacy program that provides students under the voting age with the opportunity to practice the habits of active and informed citizenship and cast ballots for the official candidates in a parallel election,” a Student Vote Alberta press release said.
This election year, more than 170,000 elementary and high school students voted for the official candidate running in their school’s electoral division, after learning about government and democracy by researching the parties, platforms and debating.
Student Vote Alberta received 170,079 ballots from 1,097 schools in 87 electoral divisions.
According to the student votes, the NDP took just over 42 per cent of the popular vote, and won 47 seats, with Rachel Notley winning a seat in the Edmonton-Strathcona riding.
The UCP formed the official opposition with just over 40 per cent of the popular vote, resulting in 39 seats. Danielle Smith won a seat in the Brooks-Medicine Hat riding.
The Green Party received more than 6 per cent of the popular vote, and the Alberta Party and the Solidarity Movement of Alberta parties received just over two per cent of the popular vote.
In the Chestermere-Strathmore riding, UCP candidate Chantelle de Jonge received the majority vote with 3,569.
“The need to impart civic literacy and foster democratic participation has only grown more urgent in recent years,” Civix CEO Lindsay Mazzucco said. “We are grateful for the teachers that are leading this program in their schools and for the support received from Elections Alberta, the Alberta Teachers Association, the Government of Canada, and our other partners for making this project possible.”
Civix is a registered Canadian charity designed to strengthen democracy through civic education, focusing on elections, government budgets, and elected representatives.
Student Vote Alberta was possible with the support of Elections Alberta, the Alberta Teachers’ Association and the Government of Canada.
