How closely did the participants' choices in Student Vote Ontario, featuring more than 240,000 elementary and high school students in a province-wide student vote, align with the results of Thursday's election?
As part of Student Vote Ontario, the students learned about government and democracy, researched the parties and candidates, and discussed the province's future before casting ballots in a parallel election.
As of 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 27, 242,407 total votes were reported from 1,839 schools, with results from all 124 electoral districts. This includes 234,807 accepted ballots and 7,600 rejected ballots.
In Nipissing, the students' choice was the incumbent, Vic Fedeli.
- Students selected Fedeli as the MPP for Nipissing with 30.68 per cent of the vote.
- Loren Mick of the Ontario NDP was second with 25.41 per cent.
- Colton Chaput of the Green Party of Ontario received 14.63 per cent of the votes cast.
- Liam McGarry, a no-show Ontario Liberal Party candidate, got 12.75 per cent of the student vote.
- Michelle Lashbrook, a Libertarian, received the support of 8.34 per cent from the students.
- Scott Mooney of the Ontario Party got 8.18 per cent.
The students did not favour Fedeli by as great a margin as the eligible voters, with almost a 20 per cent difference in share of the votes cast. The students also voted the Green Party's Chaput into third spot, knocking the Liberals' McGarry to fourth — a reversal of the election results. Candidates representing non-major Ontario parties, Lashbrook and Mooney, also fared far better in the student vote. According to unofficial results from Elections Ontario, with all 70 polls reporting:
- Fedeli PC 55.15 per cent of the vote in Nipissing
- Mick NDP 25.03 per cent
- McGarry Liberal 12.51 per cent
- Chaput Green 4.07 per cent
- Lashbrook Libertarian 1.68 per cent
- Mooney Ontario Party 1.56 per cent
Students elected a PC party government, with the Ontario NDP forming the official Opposition.
- The PC party of Ontario won 53 seats and received 24.1 per cent of the popular vote. Doug Ford won his Etobicoke North seat.
- The Ontario NDP won 40 seats and received 23.6 per cent of the popular vote. Marit Stiles won her Davenport seat.
- The Ontario Liberal Party won 27 seats and received 23.6 per cent of the popular vote. Bonnie Crombie won her seat in Mississauga East-Cooksville.
- The Green Party of Ontario won three seats and received 15.6 per cent of the popular vote. Mike Schreiner won his seat in Guelph.
- Independent candidate Bobbi Ann Brady was elected in Haldimand—Norfolk.
The student vote undershot the number of PC seats won in the landslide election victory while inflating the seats for the other major parties. Unofficial results from Elections Ontario with 8,073 or 8,079 polls reporting show:
- PC party of Ontario won 80 seats and received 42.97 per cent of the popular vote. Doug Ford won his Etobicoke North seat.
- The Ontario NDP won 27 seats and received 18.55 per cent of the popular vote. Marit Stiles won her Davenport seat.
- The Ontario Liberal Party won 14 seats and received 29.95 per cent of the popular vote. Bonnie Crombie lost in Mississauga East-Cooksville.
- The Green Party of Ontario won two seats and received 4.83 per cent of the popular vote. Mike Schreiner won his seat in Guelph.
- Independent candidate Bobbi Ann Brady was elected in Haldimand—Norfolk.