CIVIX Student Vote program in British Columbia

Approximately 60,000 students across British Columbia participated in the Student Vote program, an initiative organized by the non-partisan charity CIVIX to engage elementary and high school students in the democratic process. The program uses parallel elections to teach students about local government and electoral processes through classroom activities and hands-on roles.

In the Cowichan region, student voters at schools such as Chemainus Elementary Community School and Quw’wutsun Secondary cast ballots for North Cowichan’s mayor and council, as well as Cowichan Valley Regional District directors. In North Cowichan, 64 per cent of students re-elected Rob Douglas as mayor.

In Port Alberni, students at Tsuma-as Elementary School conducted a mock election following interviews with mayoral candidates, ultimately selecting Charles Mealey as their choice for mayor.

In Langley, simulated election results conducted by CIVIX showed discrepancies when compared to official municipal and provincial outcomes. In the provincial student simulation for Langley-Walnut Grove, Green Party candidate Sam Meyer would have unseated Misty van Popta. While Conservative MLAs Harman Bhangu and Jody Toor were re-elected by students, they did so with narrower margins than in the official results. In the municipal simulation, Mayor Eric Woodward was re-elected, but his Progress for Langley slate would have lost control of the council. Across British Columbia, the student vote simulated a Conservative minority government with the NDP as the official opposition.