Abbotsford students make their mark on election day
It won’t just be the adults watching for election results on Saturday night.
More than 60,000 elementary, middle and high school students across B.C. have cast their ballots now in the municipal elections, including in Abbotsford. Student Vote is a process that’s been taking place in public and private schools, through CIVIX, a non-partisan registered Canadian charity dedicated to strengthening democracy through civic education.
A room in a school is set up exactly like a polling station, with students volunteering as the election officers.
Abbotsford Grade 8 students Aarush Manchanda, Jasmin Dhaliwal and Manroop Sidhu were among the students who chose to volunteer at Chief Dan George middle school.
In between rushes of classrooms arriving to vote, Sidhu told The News this will be her third time voting. She was born in India, and said schools there do not teach children about voting, much less show them how to do it in a non-partisan way. She said she’s thankful for the right to vote, and women in her family who vote.
Her friend and classmate Dhaliwal, a first-generation Canadian whose family also came from India, said learning about the process is important to her. Both girls spoke passionately about their rights, in between helping other student voters through the process.
“I feel everyone should have a right to vote,” Dhaliwal said. She carefully studied the ideas of each candidate before making her selections, but said only a few won her over enough to vote for them.
Manchanda only voted for one mayor, and four candidates each as councillors and school trustees.
All three students kept their choices to themselves, not divulging any allegiances but giving some hints. Manchanda voted for people who spoke of inclusion and equality. Dhaliwal voted for those who have similar ideas as her. Sidhu was less confident with her choices, but was happy to have had the opportunity.
All three will be watching over the weekend to see who really will be elected, and to see how their classmates voted.
The Student Vote election results will be released once the polls close, as to not affect the actual results in any way.
Read the full story by Jessica Peters, AbbyNews
Abbotsford School District schools that took part in the Student Vote are Abbotsford middle, Chief Dan George middle, Clayburn middle, Jackson elementary, and Sandy Hill elementary.
