Several Abbotsford schools have reported municipal election results, based on the Student Vote election held last week via CIVIX.
Schools across the province took part in the exercise, which teaches democracy to students by giving them the chance to vote. While their votes don’t count, they can provide an interesting glimpse into the wants and needs of youth.
Abbotsford students voted for Ross Siemens as mayor. Their chosen council would be Sandy Blue, Patricia Driessen, David Evans, Simon Gibson, Tom Norton, Patricia Ross, Gurnoor Sidhu and Dave Sidhu.
Mirroring the electorate, students voted strongly in favour of Dave Sidhu, with 515 total votes. Next on their list was Blue with 467. However, Blue was the only Abbotsford council incumbent to lose their seat on Saturday night.
And while the total number student votes favoured Siemens as mayor, at two schools (Abbotsford middle and Dasmesh Punjabi School) students elected Manjit Sohi.
Only five schools reported their school board results. Their chosen board of seven trustees would be Mike Rauch, Phil Anderson, Preet Rai, Shirley Wilson, Jared White, Freddy Latham and Korky Neufeld.
The schools that took part in the Student Vote are Abbotsford middle, Chief Dan George middle, Clayburn middle, Jackson elementary, Dasmesh Punjabi School, and Sandy Hill elementary.
More schools registered to take part, but as of Monday, their results had not all been sent in by the end of the day on Oct. 15. In total, 435 schools across the province submitted their results to CIVIX, from nearly 100 municipalities and regional districts.
On Oct. 14, The News visited students at Chief Dan George middle school as they went to the polls.
READ MORE: Abbotsford students make their mark on election day
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