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Mock election runs par with Clearwater’s real election

A mock election held at CSS on Nov. 18 seems to indicate that many students are as interested in local politics as many adult voters
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Ezra Persad casts his vote and Liam McGrath acts as poll clerk during mock election held at Clearwater Secondary School. Turnout for the vote at the school was 58 per cent.

A mock election held at Clearwater Secondary School on Friday, Nov. 18 - one day before the real local vote - seems to indicate that many students are as interested in local politics and possibly as knowledgeable as many adult voters.

A total of 110 students cast their votes, reported teacher Leslie Ross. With 189 attending school that day, that's a voter turnout of 58 per cent. That was similar to but somewhat better than the turnout for District of Clearwater at 55 per cent.

Election results at the school also paralleled those in the real election.

In the mock election, John Harwood defeated Bert Walker to be mayor of Clearwater. Vote was 56 for Harwood versus 15 for Walker (79 per cent to 21 per cent), a more lop-sided result than in the real vote. The adults voted 64 per cent for Harwood and 35 per cent for Walker.

The CSS students picked five of the six councilors elected in the real election. The only exception was Gord Heisterman, who was successful in the real vote but not at the school. In the mock vote, Arnold Brock made it onto council.

In the CSS vote, Shelley Sim was the top vote-getter for those seeking a seat on council, with 85 per cent of the votes cast, while Ken Kjenstad was second, with 69 per cent. In the real vote, those roles were reversed. Kjenstad got 85 per cent of the votes while Sim came second with 72 per cent.

For Wells Gray Country (Area A), the CSS vote was 53 per cent for Tim Pennell and 41 per cent for Cheryl Thomas. The real outcome was 61 per cent for Pennell and 39 per cent for Thomas.

Six students from Thompson Headwaters (Area B) voted in the mock poll. Five voted for Willow MacDonald (85 per cent) and one for Max Lentz (17 per cent). The real vote was 56 per cent for MacDonald and 44 per cent