Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows students reject Conservative winners in mock provincial election
Students in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows voted differently from adults in both local ridings during the 2026 provincial election, favouring the NDP in a mock election that also revealed significantly stronger support for the Green Party.
While Conservative incumbents and challengers led the actual Oct. 24 provincial election results in Maple Ridge East and Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows, students participating in Student Vote BC 2026 selected New Democratic candidates in both districts.
In Maple Ridge East, students chose NDP challenger Hudson Campbell over incumbent Conservative Lawrence Mok, while in Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows, they backed incumbent New Democrat Lisa Beare.
The results contrast with the broader Conservative gains in the provincial election, which saw the party led by Lorne Doerkson secure a projected majority government.
The parallel election, organized by civic education charity CIVIX, gives elementary and secondary students who are not yet eligible to vote an opportunity to learn about candidates, political parties and the electoral process before casting ballots of their own.
Maple Ridge East
Students in Maple Ridge East selected NDP candidate Hudson Campbell, who received 392 votes, or 37.2 percent of valid ballots cast.
Conservative incumbent Lawrence Mok finished second with 296 votes (28.1 percent), narrowly ahead of Green candidate Daniel Kite, who collected 293 votes (27.8 percent). Independent Chris Hatchwell received 74 votes (7 percent).
The actual election produced a dramatically different result.
Mok comfortably led with 12,061 votes (53.6 percent), compared with Campbell’s 8,398 votes (37.3 percent). Kite received 1,711 votes (7.6 percent), while Hatchwell attracted 331 (1.5 percent).
The contrast was especially notable for the Greens. Kite attracted nearly 28 percent of the student vote, more than three times his share of the actual election ballots.
Seven schools participated in the riding, including Garibaldi Secondary, Thomas Haney Secondary, Eric Langton Elementary, Harry Hooge Elementary, Kanaka Creek Elementary, Golden Ears Elementary and c̓əsqənelə Elementary.
Together, they cast 1,055 valid ballots.
Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows
In Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows, students gave incumbent NDP MLA Lisa Beare a considerably stronger showing than she received from adult voters.
Beare collected 663 student votes (42.8 percent), comfortably ahead of Conservative challenger Doug Morneau, who received 463 (29.9 percent).
Centre BC candidate Jordan Simmons finished third with 274 votes (17.7 percent), followed by OneBC candidate Susan Einarsson with 149 (9.6 percent).
The actual election saw Morneau take the lead with 10,837 votes (48.3 percent), compared with Beare’s 9,987 (44.5 percent), according to Elections BC’s preliminary count.
Simmons received 822 votes (3.7 percent) in the actual election, while Einarsson collected 773 (3.4 percent).
Unlike Maple Ridge East, there was no Green candidate on the ballot in Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows.
Seven schools returned Student Vote results in the riding, including Pitt Meadows Secondary, Westview Secondary, Meadowridge School, Hammond Elementary, Alouette Elementary, Maple Ridge Elementary and James Cameron School.
Together, they cast 1,549 valid ballots.
How the two elections compare
Across the two ridings, 2,604 valid student ballots were cast, compared with 44,920 valid ballots counted in the actual election.
The combined results reveal a substantial difference in party preferences.
| Party | Student Vote | Actual election |
| NDP | 40.5% | 40.9% |
| Conservatives | 29.1% | 50.9% |
| Greens | 11.3% | 3.8% |
| Other candidates | 19.1% | 4.3% |
The NDP’s overall share was remarkably similar in the two elections, at approximately 41 per cent.
However, the Conservatives received nearly 22 percentage points less support among students than among actual voters.
Much of that difference was reflected in stronger support for smaller parties and independent candidates, particularly the Greens in Maple Ridge East and Centre BC in Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows.
The Greens received nearly three times their actual share among participating students, while Centre BC attracted more than four times its actual share in Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows.
A different political landscape among students
The results suggest participating students were more willing to support smaller political parties and candidates outside the two dominant parties.
Across British Columbia, the Student Vote program produced a considerably more divided legislature than the actual provincial election, with Conservatives winning 40 seats, the NDP 27 and the Greens 25. Centre BC won one seat.
The program is designed to introduce students to democracy through classroom learning, candidate research and a simulated election.
However, Student Vote results are not a scientific survey of young people’s political preferences and cannot be used to predict how students will vote once they become eligible.
For Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, the exercise nevertheless revealed a notable political divide: while adult voters gave the Conservatives a lead in both ridings, participating students favoured New Democrats and gave substantially more support to smaller parties.
The actual election results remain preliminary, with Elections BC’s final count scheduled for Nov. 6–10.
Full results are available from Student Vote BC 2026 and Elections BC.
