Their votes won’t count, but students across the province are becoming engaged in the democratic process by casting ballots for a parallel provincial election this week.
"The Ontario Register of Future Voters was developed to help reduce barriers to voting among youth and help prepare students to vote in their first election,” Ontario chief election officer Greg Essensa said in a media release. “By making it easier to vote, we hope to establish voting habits early on and create life-long voters."
More than 2,400 schools are registered to participate in Student Vote Ontario, representing all 124 electoral districts. As many as 250,0900 elementary and secondary students were expected to cast ballots in the lead up to election day, and on June 2 itself.
During their mock voting experience, they’ll also be encouraged to sign up for the Ontario Register of Future Voters, which is a provisional list of 16- and 17-year-olds who will automatically be added to the voters list when they turn 18.
Student Vote is a program of CIVIX, a non-partisan registered Canadian charity dedicated to strengthening democracy through civic education. They’re collaborating with Elections Ontario for this effort.
Sudbury.com will report on the results of Student Vote sometime after the polls close at 9 p.m. on Thursday.
