Cape students experienced voting process firsthand last week

Students at two Cape Girardeau schools learned about citizenship, campaign speeches, the Electoral College and exit polling when they participated in mock elections in the days before today's general election.

Students at Alma Schrader Elementary and Cape Christian School held mock presidential elections. Alma Schrader students voted Oct. 26 using voting booths and ballot boxes borrowed from the Cape Girardeau County clerk's office.

Students at Cape Christian School cast ballots Monday morning in a presidential election that pitted George Washington against Abe Lincoln and included two ballot initiatives -- one for a later start to the school day and another for year-round classes.

Seventh-grade teacher Julie Bell said the project was an educational lesson, and former presidents were chosen because every student had heard of them.

Students delivered campaign speeches and the entire school was allowed to cast ballots. Students also were asked to register in advance of the election and knowingly supplying incorrect registration information could have cost them a recess.

The project was as real as possible, and was meant to be fun and educational for the 140 students at the Christian school. "I think they have a new understanding of the election process," Bell said.

When the older students delivered campaign speeches, "not everyone realized what it was about," said Brittany Graham. Some students, especially younger ones, weren't sure what it meant to have a 9 a.m. start to the school day.

Bell said one of the lessons for students was about being informed before heading to the polls. Meg Goodman said she spoke in favor of Washington but voted for Lincoln. "I've been studying Washington since first grade but I didn't know as much as I should have," she said. Delivering her speech helped educate her, she said. As part of class assignments, the seventh-graders had to research an issue or presidential candidate and deliver a speech.

Steven Bell said the election was good for the younger students especially because they see their parents vote but now understand more about how it works.

At Cape Christian, Abe Lincoln was selected as the president. Both the ballot initiatives -- one for a 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. school day and another for year-round school -- failed.

Lincoln earned 76 percent of the electoral college votes to Washington's 24 votes. In popular votes, Lincoln received 85 votes and Washington received 60.

The ballot measures failed by wide margins. The initiative for a 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. school day was defeated by an 85 to 54 vote margin. The initiative for a year-round school year was defeated 79 to 61.

Students at Alma Schrader chose the Bush-Cheney ticket over Kerry-Edwards, by a wide margin. Bush earned 224 votes to Kerry's 74 among the elementary school students. National results showed Bush with 51.7 percent of the vote and Kerry with 43.7 percent. Statewide results showed Bush earning 69 percent of Missouri votes with Kerry earning 29 percent.

The Alma Schrader voting project was part of the National Student Mock Election that allows students to cast ballots for president. The national election was set for last Thursday, but because of a conflict with parent-teacher conferences, Alma Schrader students were allowed to vote early.

Counselor Julia Unnerstall instructed students about how to read the ballot and cast their votes. The students were able to vote at booths just like what their parents will see at the polls today.

After voting, students received an "I Voted" sticker just like the ones adults receive.

"The project is really a community collaborative," Unnerstall said.

She used the mock election for lessons about respect, good citizenship, character and the importance of making good choices.

Many of the students registered early, which was really just a matter of writing their names in a class roster sheet, so they could understand what actual voters will have to do. Each student then presented their name to the parent volunteers who acted as election judges and were given a ballot.

Allowing the students to vote showed them that their choices do impact the future, Unnerstall said.

She talked with a first-grade class about how long the president serves in office -- four years. She asked students to calculate how old they'd be the next time the nation voted for a president -- many were surprised by that information.

But fourth-graders were more informed about the election and the candidates, thanks to a social studies unit on elections.

Teacher Lisa Hinton had her students taking notes during the televised presidential debates so they could discuss the candidates.

After the debates aired, the class talked about how the candidates looked during the event and "if they seemed relaxed or whether it seemed like they answered the question," Hinton said.

The students also had a chance to talk about the elections during a reading project that let them cast votes for their favorite literary character.

But when it came to reality, Robert Hoxsey knew that the voting booths had partitions so that each person can vote in private. "If someone looks at who you're voting for, they might try to talk you into voting for someone else," he said.

And classmate Julien Johnston said the mock election was good practice for later. "When you grow up you have to vote," he said. "And if we do it now, we'll know how to do it."

ljohnston@semissourian.com

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