An NDP majority government would run Ontario for the next four years, under Premier Andrea Howarth, if students decided the outcome of Thursday’s election.
The unofficial Student Vote Ontario results would also have returned Mike Schreiner to represent Guelph, joined by three other Greens at Queen’s Park.
"It feels great to have the youth support," he said following his victory address on Thursday, having re-claimed the local riding seat. "We're a party that's about protecting their future and ensuring we address the climate emergency in particular.
"It's good to know young voters recognize the policies we put forward and the vision we have for the Ontario they want."
Guelph students cast 2,174 votes during the mock election in favour of Schreiner (46.9 per cent), followed by NDP’s James Parr with 652 votes (14.07 per cent). Liberal candidate Raechelle Devereaux received 598 votes (12.9 per cent) and 409 votes went to PC candidate Peter McSherry (8.82 per cent).
Rounding out the student vote were Juanita Burnett of the Communist Party with 373 votes (8.05 per cent); New Blue’s Will Lomker with 281 votes (6.06 per cent); and Paul Taylor of the None of the Above Direct Democracy Party with 148 votes (3.19 per cent).
There were 31 participating elementary and secondary schools in the riding, which saw 4,635 votes cast. Centennial Collegiate & Vocational Institute students cast the most ballots, with 1,600.
Wellington-Halton Hills students cast 1,166 mock ballots for Arnott (31.45 per cent), followed by Green candidate Ryan Kahro at 880 (23.73 per cent), Diane Ballantyne of the NDP with 780 votes (21.04 per cent) and Tom Takacs with 488 votes (13.16 per cent).
New Blue candidate Stephen Kitras took 8.2 per cent of the student vote (304 ballots), with Consensus candidate Ron Patava last with 2.43 per cent (90 ballots).
The mock vote involved more than 250,000 students from 1,672 schools from all 124 provincial electoral districts, with ballots cast throughout this week.
“We are excited to share the results of Student Vote Ontario, which marks the culmination of weeks of democratic engagement of young Ontarians,” says Taylor Gunn, president and CEO of CIVIX, the group behind Student Vote initiatives. “We are grateful for all the educators who dedicated time and energy to cultivating future voters this spring.”
If the student vote generated official results, the NDP would have won a majority with 75 seats and 28.6 per cent of the popular vote. The Liberals would form the Official Opposition, taking 28 seats with 22 per cent of the popular vote.
With 17 seats, the PC party came in third. It captured 18.7 per cent of the popular vote.
The Greens received 16 per cent of the popular vote, claiming four seats, including the Guelph riding.
Student ballots would have seen each of the four major party leaders win in their respective ridings.
