Carrying signs on which they had written slogans like “Your vote counts,” “Take a step, take a vote,” “Pick the Ontario you want,” and “Honk if you vote,” Huntsville Public School (HPS) students took to Main Street this morning just as polls opened for the 2018 provincial election to encourage residents of voting age to get out and vote.
Chanting “vote, vote, vote” and cheering when passing vehicles honked their horns, the enthusiastic VoteMob made its way from the school down one side of Main Street and up the other to the steps of Town Hall where they paused for photos and a chat with two provincial candidates: Brenda Rhodes of the Ontario Liberal Party and Matt Richter of the Green Party of Ontario.
Grade six student Judah Maxwell says, “I think it’s important that everyone gets to vote and I think it’s good for everyone to vote and have some say in who will be in charge of Ontario the next few years.” To those who choose not to vote, he says,”I think it’s their decision, honestly. If they don’t want to vote they don’t have to, but I encourage them to vote because I think it’s a big deal to vote.”
Grade seven student Rowan Petterson agrees. She says the VoteMob is “to try and get people to vote because it’s good to vote and we want them to vote for Muskoka because it doesn’t usually get as much votes.” She says voting is important to “help make the community better. Voting might help reduce taxes so that they don’t have to pay as much and it can help get better school care.”
This is the third VoteMob the school has organized. The first was in 2011, when Rick Mercer, then with CBC, challenged youth to get involved, said HPS teacher Andrea Slocombe. Two students at the University of Guelph coordinated a VoteMob and challenged other universities to do the same. “We were the first elementary school to do one,” said Slocombe. “Rick Mercer thanked Huntsville Public School so the kids were really enthused about that. We have tried to do it every election since.”
After the VoteMob, students returned to HPS to participate in a Student Vote.
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Good idea. It can’t hurt to remind people of their opportunity to vote. As it “turned out”, 415,000 Ontarians did not vote. It was a 58% turnout. We’ll see how that turns out.
Great initiative. Bravo HPS and teachers!!