SelfDesign students join young voters from across BC in Student Vote Election
By Bruce Fuhr
Cobi Delfiner is one of those undecided voters racking the brain before Tuesday’s 40th B.C. Provincial Election.
The SelfDesign student got a little practice before her first trip to the polls during the Student Vote Election at the Rosemont-based High School.
“I think it will kind of help me with the experience Tuesday,” Delfiner said minutes after dropping the ballot into the box at the SelfDesign polling station.
“I knew I was going to vote but I wasn’t really ready so it was good to have a practice session.”
Student Vote is a national registered charity aiming to help build commitment of young Canadians to participate in democracy.
According Kate Fane of Student Vote, three schools in the area, SelfDesign and L.V. Rogers High Schools and Hume Elementary are participating in the program that provides young Canadians the tools to experience the rights and responsibilities as everyday voting citizens.
“I think it’s hugely important,” said SelfDesign teacher Leslie Payne.
“I think protecting democracy and exercising your rights as citizens is one of the most crucial parts of maintaining what we want as a country so getting the students use to the fact of going through the procedure is definitely a benefit.”
The SelfDesign Grade 9 class was in charge of the vote.
When fellow students arrived to vote they were checked in the way regular voters would be a polling station during the Provincial Election on Tuesday.
The students were then handed a ballot with the three names of the candidates running in the Nelson/Creston riding — BC Liberal Greg Garbula, incumbent Michelle Mungall of the BC NDP and Green Party Sjeng Derkx — before heading to the polling booths.
The final step after marking the ballot was to dropped the piece of paper into the ballot box monitored by others in the class.
“I think it’s pretty important for kids to think about the election,” Grade 9 Tiana Baines said from the check-in table.
“This allows us to learn a little bit about voting before we actually get to do it.”
Payne said parts of the class have gone over and above the basic Student Votes curriculum.
A couple of students attended the first All-Candidates Forum in Nelson at the Prestige Inn.
The class has also engaged what local media is telling them about the local candidates as well as followed the issues online and through blogs.
Some students were taking the CBC Election Focus to help them with their decision.
“I had a little bit of skepticism about (voting) . . . politics makes me feel a little frustrated with the whole process,” Delfiner confessed. “Some part of me feels that voting is being a part of that crazy cycle but not saying anything is also not that good either.”
“I think your voice is one of the most powerful things we have even if this maybe is only one way of getting it out there,” Delfincr adds.
Fane said more that 750 schools in BC have registered for the upcoming election giving as many as 80,000 students the opportunity to cast a ballot for the official candidates in their riding. In Nelson, nearly 15 schools have registered for Student Vote.The SelfDesign ballots will be counted but results not released until the polls close Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Students at Hume and LVR vote Monday, May 13 on the official Student Vote Day.
