If it were up to the students of the lower Sunshine Coast, the 2022 election results would have seen five different candidates voted in.
Students in two schools — 101 from Chatelech Secondary and 40 from West Sechelt Elementary — cast their votes in a mock election. The Student Vote is an optional program held by CIVIX, and intended to “to inform students about democracy, government and the election process, encourage research into the local candidates and parties, and foster dialogue among students and their families.” It’s billed as an “experiential learning program” and uses ballots, ballot boxes and voting screens. On Oct. 13 and 14, participating schools were given the same choices and parameters the adults in their areas saw on local ballots.
For the 2022 general election, 736 schools in B.C. registered to participate in the Student Vote — covering 126 municipalities and regional districts.
"Democracy is foundational to our society," superintendent Kate Kerr said. "The Student Vote provides children and youth with a relevant and real experience to share their voice in the democratic process that they are also witnessing in the community, facilitating engagement and connection to the importance of voice and how to share it."
For the SD46 school board’s Area 2 (Central Coast), Amanda Amaral, Ric Leskie, and Ann Skelcher were successful candidates with 42, 36, and 34 votes from students, respectively. Maria Hampvant came in fourth place with 29 votes. In reality, Amaral, Skelcher and Hampvant were voted in to the next school board, along with the other incumbents in the race to represent the Lower and Upper Coast areas.
For the municipal council, students also elected John Henderson as their mayor — the results mirroring the election’s outcome. But the council chosen by youth differed, and included Warren Allan, Micky Argiropoulos, Cheryl Chang, Tim Horner and Darren Inkster. While the results posted by CIVIX listed five councillors, there are six councillors on Sechelt council. According to the student vote, Donna Bell and Alton Toth were tied for sixth place.
On Oct. 15, the District of Sechelt’s preliminary election results showed incumbents Alton Toth and Brenda Rowe re-elected with Donna Bell, Darren Inkster, Adam Shepherd and Dianne McLauchlan — making only two councillor candidates chosen by both the electorate and student vote.
According to student ballots, Henderson won with 26 votes to incumbent mayor Darnelda Siegers’s 14. Also in the running for mayor were Allan Holt in second place with 18 votes, and Jeri Patterson in final place with seven votes to her name. In order of most to least votes, council candidates were: Tim Horner (35 votes), Cheryl Chang and Darren Inkster (both with 32), Warren Allan with 24 votes, Micky Argiropoulos (22), Donna Bell and Alton Toth (21 votes each), Chris Moore (20), Anna Jade Chen (17), Thomas Bramble (16), Adam Shepherd (15), Brenda Rowe (14) and Dianne McLauchlan with 13.
