NEWS RELEASE
CIVIX CANADA
*************************
More than 280,000 elementary and high school students participated in the Student Vote program for the 2018 Ontario provincial election.
After learning about the electoral process, researching the issues and platforms, and debating the future of Ontario, students cast ballots for the official candidates running in their local electoral district.
As of 4 p.m. ET this afternoon, 2,166 schools had reported their election results, representing all 124 electoral districts in the province. In total, 280,691 ballots were cast by student participants; 268,091 accepted ballots, 7,103 rejected ballots, 2,562 declined ballots and 2,935 unmarked ballots.
“What makes this even more incredible is the timing. This is the busiest time of year for schools with culminating activities, EQAO testing and exams, and more than 6,000 teachers have made Student Vote a priority,” said Taylor Gunn, President and CEO of CIVIX.
Students elected Andrea Horwath and the Ontario NDP to form a majority government with 66 out of 124 seats and 32 per cent of the vote. Horwath also won in her electoral district of Hamilton Centre with 49 per cent of the vote.
Doug Ford and the PC Party of Ontario took 45 seats and will form the official opposition, receiving 27 per cent of the popular vote. Ford won in his electoral district of Etobicoke North with 46 per cent of the vote.
Kathleen Wynne and the Ontario Liberal Party won 11 seats and received 19 per cent of the vote. Wynne was defeated in her district of Don Valley West by Ontario NDP candidate Amara Possian; Wynne received 26 per cent of votes cast, compared to Possian’s 30 per cent.
The Green Party of Ontario won 2 seats: Guelph and Parry Sound–Muskoka. In total, the party received 13 per cent of the popular vote. Leader Mike Schreiner won in his electoral district of Guelph with 36 per cent of the vote.
This is the fifth provincial-level Student Vote project conducted in Ontario. The project was made possible by Elections Ontario.
Participation increased by more than 60 per cent compared to the 2014 Ontario provincial election. In the 2014 election, 173,072 votes were reported from 1,388 schools. In Student Vote Ontario 2014, students elected a Liberal majority government.
View complete results here
Results highlights:
- There were many close races across the province, with eight determined by 25 votes or less: Ajax, Spadina—Fort York, Sault Ste. Marie, Ottawa West—Nepean, Oakville, Mississauga—Erin Mills, Mississauga East—Cooksville and Kiiwetinoong.
- The electoral district of Mississauga—Erin Mills had the greatest number of participants with 5,750 accepted ballots. Mississauga—Malton was second with 4,515, followed by Ottawa Centre with 4,444.
- The electoral district of Algoma—Manitoulin had 35 schools report results – more than any other electoral district.
Background:
Student Vote is the flagship program of CIVIX, a national civic education charity focused on developing the habits of active and engaged citizenship among young people. CIVIX programming focuses on the themes of elections, government budgets, elected representatives and news literacy.
Elections Ontario is the non-partisan agency responsible for administering provincial elections, by-elections and referenda in Ontario.
*************************
