Had it been up to local students, Nicholas Wong would have won Delta South in Tuesday's provincial election.
Twenty-four public elementary and high schools, plus several private schools, in Delta participated in Student Vote, which took place Monday, the day before the election.
The vote here had independent candidate Wong edging Liberal Ian Paton by a mere 10 votes. Province-wide, students elected John Horgan and the NDP to form government by a wide margin, while Liberal Leader Christy Clark lost her seat. Students also had Andrew Weaver and the Greens claim 14 seats.
It was the fourth provincial-level Student Vote project conducted in B.C. with hundreds of schools participating.
Participating schools had students learn about government and the electoral process, research the parties and platforms, discuss relevant issues and cast ballots for the official election candidates in their ridings.
It was a busy afternoon Monday at Beach Grove Elementary, one of the participating schools, with students in grades 4 to 7 casting ballots. The students also took on other roles to mirror what really goes on during the election, including greeters, scrutineers, voting officers and even the media.
Describing it as a cool learning experience, Grade 5 student Liam Murray voted for Wong, noting he represented the best of what all the candidates had to offer.
Classmate Delcan Skinner said it's good for kids to have a chance to participate in the process even though their results won't be counted.
"It's nice for us to learn about all of this and I was talking to my dad about it. He said he learned nothing about politics when he was a kid and now we get to learn so much."
Skinner said he voted for the NDP's Bruce Reid.
Classmate Olivia Dealbuquerque said it was cool being part of the process. She voted for the Green's Larry Colero, partly because he didn't use campaign signs, but also because he has a strong education background.
Kaelyn Burnett was in the student media, saying it was fascinating to take photos and interview young voters.
Bodhi Coleman said the NDP and Reid were his ideal choice. He added young people need to be aware how important it is to vote.
Coordinating the vote for the school, teacher Tanya Dobie said the program is an ideal way to get kids talking with their parents about politics Student Vote is the flagship program of CIVIX, Canada's leading civic education charity.
