ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — In a parallel student election for federal ridings in this province, students in Newfoundland and Labrador voted for five Liberals and two members of the NDP.
In the hotly contested St. John’s East district, school students would send the NDP’s Jack Harris to Ottawa with 40.34 per cent of the vote over incumbent Liberal Nick Whalen, who garnered 29.14 per cent of the student vote.
Conservative Joedy Wall took 18.25 per cent of the student vote, while the Green Party’s David Peters took 12.3 per cent.
A news release noted that more than 1.1 million elementary and secondary school students participated in Student Vote Canada 2019, coinciding with the federal election.
As of 6:30 p.m. Newfoundland Time Monday, 1,167,110 votes had been cast at 7,747 schools, with results from all 338 federal ridings.
In the Avalon rising, students voted Liberal incumbent Ken McDonald to another term by a small margin over NDP candidate Lea Mary Movelle.
Liberal Seamus O’Regan won handily in St. John’s South-Mount Pearl in the student vote, while in Bonavista-Burin-Trinity, NDP Matthew Cooper pulled an upset over incumbent Liberal Churence Rogers, with 742 votes to 589 votes, respectively.
Liberal Scott Simms won the student vote in Coast of Bays-Central-Notre Dame, Liberal Yvonne Jones took the most votes in Labrador, and Liberal Gudie Hutchings won in Long Range Mountains.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, 21,837 students participated in the vote.
“We are thrilled with the turnout for Student Vote Canada 2019,” says Taylor Gunn, president and CEO of CIVIX Canada. “We are grateful for all the teachers that dedicated time and energy to cultivating the next generation of voters.”
Students held votes in their schools after learning about the electoral process, researching the parties and platforms, and debating Canada’s future. They cast their ballots for the official candidates running in their school’s riding.
“Elections Canada is proud to have helped make Student Vote Canada 2019 possible,” says Stéphane Perrault, chief electoral officer of Canada. “This program is one of the ways we educate future voters and help raise active citizens.”
Student Vote is a program of CIVIX, a non-partisan registered Canadian charity dedicated to strengthening democracy through citizenship education among school-aged youth.
Student Vote Canada 2019 is made possible by Elections Canada. Elections Canada is an independent, non-partisan agency that reports directly to Parliament.
