If Surrey school district students had a say in the 2020 provincial election, they would have elected the same MLAs as the rest of the registered voters.
According to a post on the district’s website, in the lead up to voting day, students from 80 schools in the district cast 7,854 ballots as part of Student Vote.
Student Vote uses elections “as a teachable moment and enables teachers to bring democracy alive in the classroom,” reads its website.
Through Student Vote, students get to experience the voting process and cast ballots for official candidates running in the election.
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In all nine Surrey and White Rock ridings, the district said the Student Vote winning candidates mirrored the actual election results.
Like in the provincial election, the BC NDP won in seven ridings; Surrey-Cloverdale, Surrey-Fleetwood, Surrey-Green Timbers, Surrey-Guildford, Surrey-Newton, Surrey-Panorama and Surrey-Whalley. The BC Liberals, meantime, won in Surrey South and Surrey-White Rock.
In Surrey-Cloverdale, 475 students in 12 schools voted to elect Mike Starchuk of the BC NDP.
In Surrey-Fleetwood, 1,689 students in 12 schools voted to elect Jagrup Brar of the BC NDP.
In Surrey-Green Timbers, 409 students voted in 10 schools elected Rachna Singh of the BC NDP.
In Surrey-Guildford, 1,182 students in seven schools voted to elect Garry Begg of the BC NDP.
In Surrey-Newton, 660 students in eight schools voted elected Harry Bains of the BC NDP.
In Surrey-Panorama, 613 students in seven schools voted to elect Jinny Sims of the BC NDP.
In Surrey South, 475 students in 10 schools elected Stephanie Cadieux of the BC Liberals.
In Surrey-Whalley, 197 students in seven schools elected Bruce Ralston of the BC NDP
In Surrey-White Rock, 1,495 students in seven schools voted to elect Trevor Halford of the BC Liberals.
The district said Surrey-Fleetwood students cast the most votes, but Earl Marriott Secondary in Surrey-White Rock case the most votes as a school population with 893 ballots, followed by Fleetwood Park Secondary with 810 and Guildford Park Secondary with 670.
More than half the students voted for the BC NDP in the Fleetwood (54.2 per cent), Green Timbers (53.68 per cent), Newton (54.63 per cent) and Panorama ridings (58.73 per cent) ridings, according to the district.
But the closest race was in Surrey-White Rock, with the BC Liberals “squeaking out the victory” by 10 students votes.
The district added the BC Green Party “fared well,” with about 18.25 per cent of the vote “in any given riding.”
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