Students head to mock polls today and tomorrow

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Hundreds of thousands of Canadians who aren't old enough to vote will be voting at more than 4,300 schools across the country. Half a million students will cast a ballot in the mock election that is happening today and tomorrow.

Chief Election Officer Taylor Gunn says those students have been staging town halls, talking to their parents about democracy and reading up about what all the parties stand for.

Gunn says the results of this election have been a pretty accurate reflection of how the real election will go. "In the 2008 federal election, we had over 500,000 students cast a ballot from across Canada. Those students elected a Conservative minority."

He says students have accurately predicted the winner in three previous elections. But Gunn admits they're a little less accurate at predicting who finishes second, third and fourth.

Six hundred schools in BC are involved in the program.