Students in Grades 4 to 12 have chosen Scott Moe and the Saskatchewan Party as the winners of the 2020 provincial election.
CIVIX, the national civic education charity that organizes the Student Vote program, said the results on Monday reflect 25,000 students casting ballots in nearly 300 elementary and high schools, representing all 61 constituencies.
Students gave the Saskatchewan Party a majority of 37 seats, with 46 per cent of the vote, while Ryan Meili and the NDP formed an opposition of 24 seats with 35 per cent of the vote.
In Humboldt-Watrous, students cast 324 votes. Donna Harpauer of the Sask. Party won with 49.3 per cent of the vote. The NDP’s Wendy Sekulich got 29.9 per cent, the Buffalo Party’s Constance Maffenbeier got 8.6 per cent, the Greens’ Jim Ternier got 7.1 per cent and the Progressive Conservatives’ Rose Buscholl got 4.9 per cent.
The student election saw Moe win his seat of Rosthern Shellbrook with 81 per cent of the vote. Meili held his seat in Saskatoon Meewasin with 61 per cent of the vote — a break from 2016 when students voted then-NDP leader Cam Broten out of his seat, which foreshadowed the events to come.
The Saskatchewan Party’s student support has waned since the 2016 election, when students gave the Sask. Party 48 seats with 53 per cent and the NDP 13 seats with 23 per cent of the vote.
Twelve per cent of students voted for the Saskatchewan Green Party, but the party won no seats.
Lindsay Mazzucco, chief operating officer of CIVIX, thanked educators for participating in the election, “especially during these challenging times.”
