UCC Students Head to the Polls for Simulated Municipal Election

Grade 10 civics students at Ursuline College Chatham turned the cafeteria into a polling station on Municipal Election Day, inviting the school community to cast their own ballots.

UCC students were invited to take part in a simulated election, voting for Chatham-Kent mayor and the two seats in Ward 6, representing the ward where the school is located.

“One of our goals, for all students, is to try and foster what we call active and engaged citizenship,” says civics teacher Connor Walsh. “So, what better way to do that than to have them actually come down and see what it means to be an active, engaged and responsible citizen?”

Mr. Walsh’s civics class organized the Student Vote, running polling stations, instructing students how to vote and helping count ballots.

The class also reached out to local candidates six weeks before the election, asking them to share their background, priorities and a video message with students. ‘Candidates Corner’ was set up in the cafeteria, providing student voters with information about each mayoral and Ward 6 candidate.

Grade 10 civics student Nicolas Barker says the class has helped him learn about the election process.

“I’ve learned a lot about how everything works,” says Barker. “I didn’t know a lot about politics before taking this class, but we’ve learned a lot about municipal elections and voting, and federally as well. Mr. Walsh is a great teacher.”

The Student Vote program is operated by CIVIX, a non-partisan registered Canadian charity that gives students the opportunity to experience democracy firsthand. The organization provided ballots, ballot boxes and voting screens.

A total of 1015 ballots were cast in the Student Vote, with the results closely reflecting those of the Chatham-Kent municipal election.

Mayor-elect Michael Bondy received the most student votes with 375.

Brian Machado and Ben Labadie received the most student votes for Ward 6 councilor with 418 and 329 votes, respectively. In the municipal election, Machado was elected with the second most votes while Labadie finished third in voting.