The results of this week’s federal election has many asking what happened to the youth vote.

The Liberals and NDP both lost seats, while the Conservatives saw gains and came out on top in the popular vote.

The Greens now hold three seats in the House of Commons, but they failed to make the kind of inroads some had hoped.

The campaign saw massive rallies calling on the powers-that-be to take serious action against climate change, but Memorial University lecturer Lori Lee Oates says the youth vote didn’t materialize.

She says some voters seem to have bought into the idea that the Liberals are taking action on climate change, but those who understand policy realise that the policies outlined are simply “lip service.”

Retired political scientist Steve Tomblin says there is something wrong with the democratic system when the kind of energy seen in the climate change rallies isn’t being mobilized during the election process. He says young people are so frustrated with institutional deficiencies, they have energy to march, but unless those institutional deficiencies change, it’s hard to get them mobilized.