STUDENTS TEST ELECTORAL PROCESS WITH ELECTION AT MIDDLE SCHOOL

JACKSON -- Tim Stearns knows candidates can't solicit votes near a polling place, so he reprimanded one vice-presidential candidate Tuesday at Jackson Middle School and sent him scurrying from the line of voters during a school election.

"There's no electioneering," Stearns said. Candidates must stay 25 feet from a polling place if they are soliciting votes.

But some of the students weren't sure of their crime. "What does electioneering mean?" one student asked.

Stearns, a sixth-grade election judge, helped oversee the election of vice presidential and presidential candidates at the school. He also directed students to the polling booths.

Since 1996 is an election year, the school offered a hands-on lesson in democracy with the student council elections.

"We touch on this all through the curriculum," said Marsha Miller, student council sponsor at the Middle School.

Sixth grade students elected a vice president and seventh grade students chose a president.

Results won't be tabulated until this morning when Rodney Miller, Cape Girardeau County Clerk, reads the ballots.

The clerk will bring the ballot machine to the school to show students just how the votes are counted.

"It won't take long, probably less than a minute to get the results," he said.

The ballot reader will read the 600 punch cards in about 40 seconds.

But Miller isn't sure what will happen if there is a tie. Usually the school holds its elections by paper ballots and counts each vote by hand.

When Marsha Miller suggested using the punch cards and polling booths for the election, the county clerk's office was invited to help with the project.

"Really there is no added cost," Rodney Miller said. "We have the equipment. My time is all that is involved."

And in the midst of an election year, time is critical. There is only a week left to register for voting in the Nov. 5 election.

The county clerk's office will be open Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon to accommodate residents who wish to register.

Teaching students how to vote helps alleviate future fears when they actually reach 18 and register to vote, said Dr. Dan Beard, principal.

"They are actually doing what their parents will do," he said.

Students had to fill out voter registration cards to participate in the election. Eight seventh-graders and 10 sixth-graders competed for the offices.