Grade 10 students at Nelson High School backed Lisa Kearns for mayor in their Student Vote 2026 mock election, held three days before Burlington's real vote returned Marianne Meed Ward for a third term.

They got their own ward right, though. The students chose Olivia Duke for Ward 4 councillor, and Duke went on to win the real two-way race against Chris Carter on Monday, Oct. 26. Nelson, at 4181 New St., was itself one of four Voting Day locations in Ward 4.

The school says its Grade 10s voted on Friday, Oct. 23, and reported 252 votes counted. Students also picked Ryan Marlow for Halton District School Board trustee. The school says the exercise let students practise their civic duty to prepare them for the future; in the real election, voters must be Canadian citizens and at least 18.

Among adult voters, Meed Ward took 25,025 votes, or 44.29%, in unofficial results. Kearns, the Ward 2 councillor, was second with 17,070 votes (30.21%), 7,955 votes or about 14 points back, and Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan was third with 12,650 (22.39%). Turnout was 35.5%, with 56,863 ballots cast out of 160,089 eligible voters.