Voting Program in Schools Teaches Students about Elections

When millions of adults are flooding the polls on the second Tuesday in November, millions of children will be doing the same thing.

During each presidential election, children in schools across the country cast their vote to see who they believe should be the next president of the United States. These mock elections are an opportunity for students to learn about the election process and get involved in an event that has been consuming the minds of U.S. citizens for more than a year leading up to Election Day.

Today, the drive to prepare young people to be educated, engaged voters is spearheaded by Kids Voting USA, a nonprofit group that operates through a national network of affiliates who partners with schools and election officials. The organization introduces civic activities to students as early as kindergarten and continues throughout their years in school.

Students prepare for voting in a classroom setting, where they learn about the Electoral College and its inner workings. Because their parents are often heard discussing the candidates and the upcoming election at home, students raise those same issues in the classroom for discussion.

After they have taken time to discuss the issues and fully understand the election process, the students take part in a mock election that mimics the actual election with the same candidates and same issues.

The lessons and classroom materials are not meant to be additional work added on to the students’ already full schedules. Instead, it’s designed to work in conjunction with the normal social studies curriculum. The tools provided by Kids Voting USA help teachers to meet the standards laid out by the National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies.

Not only do kids get to vote, they also walk away from the polls with the popular “I Voted” sticker, showing that they, too completed their civic duty, even if it was only in a mock election.