Ventura middle schoolers cast mock votes for president

Skip Ad

Ad Loading...

x

Embed

x

Share

Students at Balboa Middle School in Ventura participate in a statewide mock election to learn about the process of democracy. ANTHONY PLASCENCIA/THE STAR

Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the United States, if the results of a mock election at Balboa Middle School in Ventura predict the nation's decision — as they have done for the past two presidential elections.

Nearly 1,100 students cast mock votes Tuesday in the school's gymnasium as they took part in the California Student Mock Presidential Election. First held in 2008, the project tallies votes from several middle and high schools throughout the state and displays the results on the secretary of state’s website, http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/student-mock-election. More than 275,000 students are expected to participate this year.

At Balboa, 569 students voted for Democrat Clinton and 322 voted for Republican Donald Trump. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson collected 89 votes and Gloria Estela La Riva of the Peace and Freedom Party garnered 61. The Green Party candidate, Jill Stein, collected 34. Some students voted for more than one person, rendering the ballot invalid.

Elsa Schmidt, an eighth-grader at Balboa, feels the program is a good way to get kids thinking about the impact of politics on daily life.

“A lot of kids don’t pay attention to politics, and this is a way to actually get them into it and figure out what they agree with,” Elsa said.

Balboa teacher Renee Young, who is credited with spearheading the school’s participation in the mock election, said the program gives students an opportunity to see how their voice can make a difference in elections.

"I think it's an incredibly valuable experience for kids to understand that we need to participate in our democracy in order to make it work," she said.

Ventura Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Babb agreed, noting that while students are already exposed to election information, participation in the process takes it a step further.

“I know that when they come in cars and on the bus, they see signs and they know those signs means something,” Babb said. “But now this puts it into the concrete and into the dialogue.”

According to Young, the students at Balboa have successfully predicted the winner of the past two presidential elections. On Nov. 8, students will find out if they're 3-0.