Last week millions of British Columbians went to the polls to vote in the provincial election, including students at 100 Mile Elementary School.
On Wednesday, Oct. 16 and Thursday, Oct. 17 Amy Simxcox's Grade 5/6 class conducted a mock election for students in Grades 4 to 7. Simcox said the activity was designed to educate students about politics and familiarize them with the voting process.
"We have spent the last four weeks talking about election topics, what an election is and government at both the federal and provincial level and some of the major issues coming up in our riding," Simcox said. "I think it's been pretty positive because they are excited about it and excited to have there I am a voter sticker. I think just letting them understand what's going on in our community and how it affects them is going to have a positive impact as they grow older."
When all the votes were counted 511 students in the Cariboo-Chilcotin riding voted for Conservative Party of B.C. candidate Lorne Doerkson and 405 voted for B.C. NDP Party Candidate Michael Moses. Province-wide, had the students voted, the B.C. NDP would have received 44 seats, the Conservatives 40 and the B.C. Green Party would have received nine.
In comparison, the voters of the Cariboo-Chilcotin cast 13,110 votes for Doerkson and 5,585 for Michael Moses, with Doerkson receiving 69 per cent of the vote compared to the 55 per cent he received in the student vote. Across the province, meanwhile, the B.C. NDP are expected to to secure 46 seats to the Conservatives' 45, with the Greens only scooping up two seats.
The mock election was conducted in cooperation with Civics Canada who helped teachers across the province run the mock election. Simcox said she received educational resources, special student voting booths and ballots with the names of the local candidates printed on them.
Simcox's class both voted in and conducted the election, with her students taking on the role of various election workers. This included voting clerks responsible for checking the students' voter ID and providing ballots to the students, voting officers in charge of watching the ballot boxes and counting the votes and scrutineers representing the two parties.
"We also talked about how we cannot, in this space, talk about our opinions and we have to let everyone make their own vote without intimidating anyone," Simcox said.
Trieva Swope took on the role of a scrutineer supervising the vote and answering any questions about the process students had. Swope remarked she found the whole experience to be fun and that she enjoyed taking part.
"I think (knowing how to vote) will be important for when we are going to vote when we are older," Swope remarked, adding she is excited to vote in the future.
Her classmate Emily LaLancette, one of the voting roll clerks, also enjoyed taking part in the mock election. LaLancette's job was checking the student ID matched the names they had on the rolls before issuing ballots.
"We used our bus passes or a folder that we have that has our name on it," LaLancette said. "It was pretty fun, it went a little fast though."
Before the election, Simxcox said she prepped her class by teaching about the issues facing B.C. and common political terms. That way when they watched the debate between Conservative Party of B.C. leader John Rustad, B.C. NDP Party Leader David Eby and Green Party of B.C. Leader Sonia Furstenau they had the tools to understand what they were saying.
Her students also discussed the issues most important to them which included the cost of housing and whether or not they would be able to own a home when they become adults. Other concerns raised by the kids included education and substance abuse, as well as a few less serious topics.
"Of course, they wanted to know which party banned phones in classrooms," Simcox chuckled. "They're hoping to vote not for that party."
Throughout this process, Simcox remarked she was very careful not to influence her students in any way politically. She noted that she isn't that politically active herself, so studying this election with her students was eye-opening for her as well.
Simcox said she felt the election went well overall, with the only hiccup being some students expressing frustration there was no Green Party candidate running in the Cariboo-Chilcotin. In the future, she expressed an interest in running a similar mock election during Canada's next federal election, scheduled for 2025, or by using what she has learned to set up a student council for the school.
"I really like how engaging it has been and that it's included everybody," Simcox said. "I think this really sets me up to understand how we might organize a voting process (for a student council.)"
