If students across the Peace Country controlled the vote in the general provincial election, all four ridings would be represented by a member of the United Conservative Party. As part of the province-wide Student Vote, youth across Alberta had the chance to learn about democracy, the government, and the electoral process, and cast ballots for the official candidates.
In the Grande Prairie riding, Nolan Dyck with the UCP received 52 per cent of the student vote, while 27 per cent voted for NDP candidate Kevin McLean. The remainder of the votes were split between Green Party candidate Shane Diederich, Alberta Independence Party candidate David Braun, and Alberta Party candidate Preston Mildenberger with each receiving less then 10 per cent.
The UCP’s Ron Wiebe received 54 per cent of the vote from Grande Prairie – Wapiti students, while the NDP’s Dustin Archibald came in second with 28 per cent, and the Independence Party’s Brooklyn Biegel received the remaining 17 per cent.
Fifty-six per cent of students in Central Peace – Notley voted for incumbent UCP candidate Todd Loewen, while 18 per cent voted for Megan Ciuryek with the NDP, and 10 per cent voted for Lynn Lekisch with the Alberta Party. Rodney Bowen with the Independence Party and Nancy O’Neill with the Solidarity Movement of Alberta each received less than 10 per cent of the riding’s student vote.
In the Peace River riding, incumbent Dan Williams received 59 per cent of the vote, with the NDP’s Liana Paiva receiving 23 per cent. Ten per cent of the students voted for independent candidate Conrad Nunweiler, and seven per cent voted for Alberta Independence Party candidate Sharon Noullett.
If youth across Alberta were the ones voting, the NDP would win a majority government with 47 seats and 42 per cent of the vote. The UCP would earn 39 seats, becoming the official opposition with 40 per cent of the provincial vote.