Ahead of Monday's vote, students cast their `ballots'
Saskatchewan heads to the polls on Monday, but first, the next generation of voters has some advice to share: make your ballot, and make it an informed choice.
“You have a say in this. Choosing not to input your say in what's going to be affecting you and everybody who you know, for better or for worse, seems just not the brightest idea,” said Alice, a Grade 9 student at Evan Hardy Collegiate.
“This is supposed to be a democracy. It should be everybody, and everybody's decision.”
Students at the school and 419 others across the province, representing all 61 electoral constituencies, cast ballots on Thursday and Friday for Student Vote Saskatchewan 2020.
Participating in the vote is a good chance to get engaged with the political process and gain critical thinking skills, said Brad Schoenfeld, who teaches English and history at Evan Hardy Collegiate in Saskatoon.
“What they're getting out of it is that you can actually prepare for a vote and that it's something that you probably have an obligation to make an informed decision on.”
Alice and her classmate Isabel, who are both in the school's gifted education program, said they both appreciated that when submitting their ballots on Thursday.
“You should do research on what the parties are saying, what they believe and how they present their information — and what that information is,” Isabel said.
Non-profit CIVIX organizes the vote and tabulates the results, which will be released Monday night. It also provides a survey for students that shows where they sit on the political spectrum and which parties align with their beliefs.
The COVID considerations at play in this year's provincial election carry over into the student vote. While some schools opted for traditional paper ballots, Evan Hardy was among those that used an online form instead.
Schoenfeld said there was a lot of excitement and engagement in his class, including healthy debate and interest from his students about differing opinions.
“A lot of kids see the political ads ... and have opinions about them and they want to be involved, but kind of feel shut out of the political process,” Schoenfeld said. “So even though they know this vote doesn't count for the actual election, I think that it allows them to feel like they've kind of made a difference and that their voice is heard.”
Alice said her main concerns when determining who to vote for stemmed from the overarching issues of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.
Isabel's focus was on how increasing the minimum wage could affect the standard of living in the province.
“One thing that I would say is, vote for the greater good, don't just think about what's going to affect you personally, because there are so many other people in the city or the country or the state,” Alice said. “They'll be affected for it, too.”