Today’s Poll

BC students cast ballots in provincial Student Vote campaign

Nelson Daily Staff
By Nelson Daily Staff
October 20th, 2020

Even though they are under the voting age, tens of thousands of elementary and high school students from throughout British Columbia, including students in Kootenay Lake, Boundary and Kootenay-Columbia, will have an opportunity to consider the future direction of the province and vote for the official candidates running in the general election.

Student Vote is an authentic learning experience that enables teachers to bring democracy alive in the classroom and empowers students to learn about government and the electoral process, and debate important issues facing the province.

A total of 1,035 schools have registered to participate in Student Vote BC 2020, representing all 87 provincial electoral districts.

Schools include:

  • Twin Rivers Elementary School
  • Stanley Humphries Secondary
  • Kinnaird Elementary School
  • Walker Development Centre
  • J.V. Humphries School
  • St. Joseph School
  • Trafalgar Middle School
  • Rossland Summit School
  • Ecole des Sept-Sommets
  • Seven Summits Centre for Learning – Rossland
  • St. Michael’s Catholic School
  • J. Lloyd Crowe Secondary School
  • J.L. Webster Elementary School

This Wednesday and Thursday (October 21 and 22), students will take on the roles of election officials and coordinate the voting process for their peers. CIVIX will tabulate the results by electoral district and release them publicly following the close of polls on Saturday, October 24 (8:00 pm PDT).

The Student Vote program has adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic and the new safety protocols required in schools and classrooms. Project activities were adapted to allow for physical distancing and online learning, with additional digital resources available. While most schools will vote using traditional paper ballots, schools were given the option to vote online.

The Student Vote project for the 2020 British Columbia provincial election was made possible by Elections BC.

BACKGROUND:

Student Vote is a program of CIVIX. CIVIX is a non-partisan Canadian charity dedicated to strengthening democracy through citizenship education among school-aged youth.

Approximately 1.2 million Canadian students participated in Student Vote Canada 2019, representing 9,000 schools from all 338 federal ridings – including more than 210,000 BC students from 1,400 schools. More than 170,000 BC students participated in Student Vote BC 2017, representing 1,100 schools from all 87 electoral districts.

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