Hundreds of Chatham-Kent (CK) students think voters got it right.
A simulated vote was held at 11 elementary, middle, and high schools across CK on Monday, giving thousands of students a chance to participate in the democratic process first-hand.
The vote was coordinated by CIVIX, a non-partisan organization that aims to get kids involved and strengthen Canada's democracy through civic education. The student vote program urges kids to learn more about local issues and candidates before casting a vote alongside an official municipal, provincial, or federal election.
On Monday, 5,441 CK students voted and the results were fairly similar to the actual ones.
Michael Bondy was voted as mayor by CK's registered voters and students. Darrin Canniff, Lauren Anderson, and Randy Hope landed in second, third, and fourth position in both votes as well.
When it comes to councillors, regular and student voters had at least one in common in almost every ward.
In Ward 1, Mark Authier was the top choice in both votes. Melissa Harrigan was the clear choice as the second representative for CK voters, but she tied with Michael Bond in the student vote.
In Ward 2, Anthony Ceccacci was the top vote getter in both elections.
Jim Blake won both versions of the vote for Ward 5.
F. Brian Machado took one of the councillor seats in Ward 6. There was a difference of opinion about the second councillor from the area though. Incumbent Alysson Storey had the most votes in the entire ward when it came to the actual election, for students she dropped down to sixth place. Ben Labadie took her spot in the simulated vote.
Ward 7 saw complete agreement, with Amy Finn and Steve Kenney taking both spots on council.
In Ward 8, Brock McGregor took first place in both votes.
Despite thousands of kids participating, Chatham-Kent was a small sample size in the 2026 CIVIX student vote. Across the province nearly 140,000 students across almost 1,300 schools took part.
