On the provincial election scheduled for October 1st, small "polling stations" will be set up in every riding in Quebec to allow children to learn about democratic life.
According to Elections Québec, this will be the first project of its kind in the world.
All young Quebecers will be invited to accompany their parents to the polls on October 1st. On site, a booth specially designed for children will be waiting for them.
A ballot will be given to them. However, children will not be asked to choose a candidate, but rather to decide on a general question about democracy or the electoral process.
Young voters will then be able to cast their ballots themselves in an ballot box. And to complete their experience, they will receive a temporary tattoo on which will be written "I voted! ".
The program, designed by Elections Québec, follows a pilot project conducted during by-elections held last year in the ridings of Gouin in Montreal and Louis-Hébert in Quebec City.
The experiment was successful thanks to the participation of more than a thousand children.
As a result, Elections Québec has decided to extend this program throughout Quebec for the general election to be held in the fall.
"We really want to create an event for the child. An event that will first lead him to see his parent vote and then to vote in turn, "says Julie St-Arnaud Drolet, spokesman for Elections Quebec.
"The goal is really to awaken the child to democracy, elections, to give him the taste, once age to do so, to go to vote," she continued.
Elections Québec says it relies on several studies that show that democratic participation stems from a learning process.
"When one begins to be interested in these questions very early in the child's life, he will have a stronger propensity to become a votable person once he is an adult" Ms. St-Arnaud Drolet.
Children attending primary school are the targets of the initiative. "But all children - younger or older - who want to live the experience can do so," says St-Arnaud Drolet.
The coutning of the votes will be done the same evening of the actual election.
In the 2017 by-elections, the question on the children's ballot was "What's most important to you?" Four choices of answers were offered: to express your ideas, to be different, to make yourself respected or to help others.
In both Gouin and Louis-Hébert, young voters chose to "help others".
Meanwhile, for teenagers, Elections Québec has developed the "Budding Voter" program.
Under this program, students in participating secondary schools will be in the midst of an election simulation that will end with a vote.
The names of the real candidates in their constituency will be placed on the ballots. However, we will have to wait until after October 1 to know the result and to know if Quebeckers have elected candidates who have received the support of the next generation of voters.