Multiple programs aim to teach kids how to vote

• Published October 20, 2008

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Many class projects and events are focusing kids on the upcoming general election --- with some projects on the Republican and Democratic candidates themselves and others, like one last week at Garfield Elementary, on the civic duty of voting.

Next week is also the statewide mock election --- more on that in a moment.

Last week at Garfield Elementary, school librarian Eileen Connor held a mock primary to determine Garfield's top two choices for the Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award.

Students will vote for one of the top two choices on Election Day, Nov. 4.

Normally, the voting for the Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award takes place later in the year, Connor said, but this year, she and the fifth grades tied the process in with a unit on elections. The fifth graders help run the elections, including reading all 20 "candidate" books to all the classes and drawing campaign posters, as they learn about the elections.

The school used a real electronic ballot counter and a privacy voting booth borrowed from the Thurston County Elections Office.

Fifth grader Keevan Forbes-Kashani said the picture book election gave him some insight into the need for voters to inform themselves before making choices. Some students had trouble having an opinion about the books because they hadn't been exposed to all of them, he said.

"I didn't think about how some people might not understand everything, because they were absent," he said. "It's like, if something is on TV and you might not be home or tape it, so you miss something."

On Wednesday, Black Hills High School will hold a school-wide candidate forum, moderated by Tumwater Mayor Ralph Osgood. Representatives from the presidential and gubernatorial campaigns are scheduled to be there, as well as actual candidates in the Insurance Commissioner race, and in the races for the 20th and 35th legislative districts.

Today, the Washington Secretary of State's Office also announced that next week, students across the state will participate in the Washington 2008 Mock Election.

The mock election is online, and there are three different ballots available. Everyone will vote on the actual candidates. Older students will vote on the state's actual initiatives. Students in fourth grade and under will vote on other topics that are of interest to students, including on computer use in schools and vegetables in school lunches.

Statewide results of the Mock Election are slated to be available online by Oct. 31.

---- Venice Buhain, Olympian education reporter