PG area students stay blue in much closer Student Vote mock election

If it was up to B.C.’s school-aged children, the results of Saturday’s provincial election would have looked much different.

Nearly 110,000 students from across B.C. took part in CIVIX’s Student Vote Program, which is an experiential civic literacy program providing students under the voting age with an opportunity to learn about democracy, government and the electoral process by taking part in a mock-election paralleling the provincial election.

While B.C.’s students still elected the B.C. Conservatives, it was just a minority government with only 41 seats and 32.4 per cent of the popular vote, 22 seats fewer than they received Saturday.

The BC NDP still formed the official opposition in the mock election with 26 seats and 29.3 per cent of the popular vote, two seats fewer than in Saturday’s vote.

Meanwhile, the BC Greens finished in third with 24 seats and 25.8 per cent of the popular vote, 22 seats more than they won in the real election.

Locally, the Prince George ridings were much closer in the Student Vote than they were in Saturday’s general vote.

In the provincial election Sheldon Clare claimed more than 70 per cent of the vote in Prince George-North Cariboo. While Clare was still the student choice in the riding, he only won 44.85 per cent of the 515 ballots cast across the eight participating schools.

With 201 votes, Randy Thompson of the BC Green Party was a close second in the riding, while Denice Barua was a distant third with just 83 votes.

Prince George-Mackenzie was the closest of the three ridings encompassing Prince George, with Conservative incumbent Kiel Giddens earning 192 votes, good for 35.56 per cent of the 540 ballots cast across six participating schools.

Teri Young of the BC Greens claimed 185 votes just seven fewer than Giddens in the riding, while Ian McMahon of the NDP claimed 163 votes.

The students in Prince George-Valemount went blue as well, electing BC Conservative incumbent Rosalyn Bird, giving her 112 of the 335 ballots cast across the seven schools participating in the riding.

The NDP’s Carol Bourque won the second most votes with 104, trailed by Jodie Capling of of the BC Greens with 83, and OneBC Candidate Mitchell Lukoni who received 36.

The 554 students across 11 schools that took part in the Cariboo-Chilcotin riding gave Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson his seat with about 48 per cent of the vote in the riding.

In Vancouver-Point Grey, outgoing Premier and NDP Leader David Eby held onto his seat in the mock election with 38.22 per cent of the vote, with 1,138 students across 12 schools in the riding participating.

In Saanich North and the Islands, Green Leader Emily Lowan won decisively, claiming 53.4 per cent of the 2,106 ballots cast across the 15 schools participating.

Centre BC claimed just one seat in Abbostford West. Party leader Elenore Sturko finished with the fourth most votes in Surrey South, claiming just 14.18 per cent of the vote. Centre BC did not win a single seat Saturday.

Full results from around the province can be found here.