The BC NDP appear to be the trusted party for most future voters living in New Westminster.
Results from Student Vote BC 2024 show orange party candidates in all three locally-based ridings were elected to the Victoria legislature in the mock exercise, conducted prior to the Oct. 19 general election.
The purpose of the vote, according to project organizer CIVIX, is to get young people involved early in the electoral process.
The non-partisan Canadian charity added students learned about government and democracy, researched parties and platforms, and discussed the future of the B.C. before heading to the polls.
Who was elected?
Jennifer Whiteside won a second term as MLA for New Westminster-Coquitlam, as she did following Monday's, Oct. 28, final count.
Raj Chouhan also won the vote of elementary, middle and secondary students in Burnaby-New Westminster. He was elected to a sixth term in the main event.
Aman Singh earned a 4.42 per cent marginal victory from the student vote (see list below) over Conservative candidate Steve Kooner, which would've given him a third term for Richmond-Queensborough.
Kooner, however, in his first-ever campaign, flipped the district to blue in the general election.
NDP goes two for three in New West on election night https://t.co/Inyx6OaNUy
— The Record (@TheRecord) October 20, 2024
By the numbers
A total of 3,987 eligible votes were counted from 34 local schools out of 6,636 ballots that were requested by CIVIX — in association with Elections BC.
That equates to a 60 per cent voter turnout; 27 schools were successful in returning ballots.
Richmond-Queensborough recorded the best voter turnout of the New West ridings at 73 per cent.
Province-wide, 172,003 valid votes were counted from more than 1,034 B.C. schools across all 93 electoral districts.
The NDP earned a minority government with 44 seats in the legislature, 40 for the Conservatives and nine for the Greens.
Final counts in the New Westminster ridings were as follows:
*indicates incumbent
New Westminster-Coquitlam
- *Jennifer Whiteside, BC NDP - 150 votes (48.86 per cent)
- Maureen Curran, BC Greens - 92 votes (29.97 per cent)
- Ndellie Massey, BC Conservatives - 65 votes (21.17 per cent)
- Our Lady of Fatima School
- Purpose Secondary School
- Richard McBride Elementary
- Urban Academy
- École Qayqayt Elementary School
Burnaby-New Westminster
- *Raj Chouhan, BC NDP - 1,117 votes (50.38 per cent)
- Deepak Suri, BC Conservatives - 730 votes (32.93 per cent)
- Daniel Kofi Ampong, Independent - 370 votes (16.69 per cent)
- Connaught Heights Elementary
- Edmonds Community Resource Centre
- F.W. Howay Community School
- Herbert Spencer Elementary
- John Knox Christian School
- Lord Kelvin Community School
- Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary
- New Westminster Secondary School
- Queen Elizabeth Elementary
- Second Street Community Elementary
- St. Thomas More Collegiate
- Stride Avenue Community Elementary
- Twelfth Avenue Elementary
Richmond-Queensborough
- *Aman Singh, BC NDP - 649 votes (44.36 per cent)
- Steve Kooner, BC Conservatives - 587 votes (40.12 per cent)
- Cindy Wu, Independent - 175 votes (11.96 per cent)
- Errol E. Povah, Independent - 52 votes (3.55 per cent)
- Cornerstone Christian Academy
- Garden City Elementary
- H.J. Cambie Secondary School
- Hamilton Elementary
- Howard DeBeck Elementary
- James Whiteside Elementary
- Kathleen McNeely Elementary
- Kingswood Elementary
- Mitchell Elementary
- Pythagoras Academy
- Queensborough Middle School
- Richmond Christian School - Middle campus
- Richmond Virtual School
- St. Paul's School
- Walter Lee Elementary
- William Bridge Elementary
With a file from Jess Balzer, Burnaby NOW
