Underage voters across B.C. gave the NDP a majority government in an exercise in teaching democracy to students in this province.
Students in elementary, middle and high schools — including Parkland Secondary in North Saanich — participated in Student Vote, a parallel election program coinciding with the recent B.C. election.
The approximately 100,000 votes, which did not count in the general election of course, gave the NDP a 54-seat majority, followed by the B.C. Liberals with 20 and the Green Party with eight seats.
In Saanich North and the Islands, students cast 1,343 votes and awarded the seat to Adam Olsen of the Green Party with 657 votes.
Next was the NDP’s Gary Holman (443), B.C. Liberal Stephen Roberts (165) and independent candidate Scott McEachern (78).
Of those votes, Stelly’s Secondary cast 486, Parkland 202, Gulf Islands Secondary 338, and 317 from middle and elementary schools in the riding.
The Student Vote exercise during the 2009 provincial election had similar results, giving the Greens the riding, followed by the NDP then the Liberals.