FALL RIVER: If the voting was left up to the students at three schools in Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank, there would be an underdog elected to the N.S. Legislature.

Students at Holland Road School in Fletchers Lake; Oldfield Consolidated in Enfield, HRM; and at Fall River-based Georges P. Vanier Junior High picked Anthony Edmonds of the Green Party as the representative, while overall the 163 schools province-wide participating picked Jamie Baillie’s PC party to form a minority government.

In total, 18,929 ballots were cast by student participants; 18,186 valid votes and 743 rejected ballots.

There was just one Green Party candidate elected, while the Atlantica Party had no candidates elected.

The one Green Party candidate elected, according to the students, was Edmonds, who bested PC candidate Dan McNaughton; NDP Trevor Sanipass; and Liberal incumbent Bill Horne.

Edmonds received 98 votes, with McNaughton getting 87. Sanipass had 61, and Horne came last amongst the students with just 44 votes.

GP Vanier students cast 175 votes; Holland Road students had 64 votes; while Oldfield had 51 students cast their ballot.

In Sackville-Beaver Bank, students at Sackville Heights Elementary and Millwood High School elected Brad Johns of the PC Party overwhelming with 158 votes. Dennis Kutchera of the NDP was second with 66, while incumbent Liberal Stephen Gough came third at 47 votes. Green Party candidate Mike Montgomery had 24 votes, while the Atlantica Party’s Rita Billington had 20 votes.

More than 18,000 elementary and high school students participated in the Student Vote program for the 2017 Nova

Scotia provincial election. After learning about the electoral process, researching the parties and platforms, and debating the future of Nova Scotia, students cast ballots for the official candidates running in their local electoral district.

As of 3 p.m. on May 30, 163 schools had reported their election results, representing 50 of 51 electoral districts in the province. In total, 18,929 ballots were cast by student participants; 18,186 valid votes and 743 rejected ballots.

In total, there were 15 races determined by 15 votes or less, with the electoral district of Antigonish had the greatest number of participants with 1,140 valid votes. Hants East was second with 1,040, followed by Hammonds Plains-Lucasville with 852. Kings South and Victoria-The Lakes each had eight schools report results – more than any other electoral district.

Student Vote is the flagship program of CIVIX, Canada’s leading civic education charity. CIVIX provides authentic learning opportunities to help young Canadians practice their rights and responsibilities as citizens and connect with their democratic institutions. CIVIX programming focuses on the themes of elections, government budgets and elected representatives.

phealey@enfieldweeklypress.com