• Students learn about voting process

• Voting at Harry Hoag     

 Obama, Tonko, J.F.K. victorious

     Like New York State voters, Fort Plain students in grades 7-12 voted heavily for Barack Obama, with the Illinois senator taking 64.4% of the students’ votes to 33.9% for John McCain. Voting in the on-line mock election took place Oct. 23-30.
      In the race for House of Representatives, Democrat Paul Tonko received 49% of students’ votes to 41% for Republican James Buhrmaster.
     When asked which past president they would like to see in office today, students voted for John F. Kennedy, 24.6%, followed closely by Abraham Lincoln with 22.8 %. The only other past presidents to receive double digit percentages were Ronald Reagan with 16.67% and Franklin Roosevelt with 11.4%.
     Students were also asked give their opinion on how important it is for the government to focus on various issues during the next four years. They were asked to rate various issues as absolutely critical, very important, somewhat important, not important, or not sure. The economy topped their concerns with 64.28% of voters rating it as absolutely critical and 27.67% rating the issue very important. National security was rated by 47.74 % of voters as absolutely critical with 36.93% rating the issue as very important. Next among student concerns were health care, education, and energy. Least among student concerns were the war in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq, and global climate change and the environment. A low of 25.6% of student voters consider the latter issue as absolutely critical.
        When asked on which issue government spending would help the most, 45.3% of students said the economy; followed by healthcare, 18.5%: the Iraq war, 10.61%; global climate change and the environment, 7.96%; energy, 7.07%; education, 6.19%; and national security, 4.42%.
         Students had to fill out voter registration forms before they could cast their ballots in the on-line mock election. A total of 218 students or 44% of the student body registered to vote. Of the total registered, 114 students (52%) actually voted.

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Students learn about the voting process

        Most of them couldn't cast official ballots, but every student in  Junior/Senior High School had the opportunity to cast an unofficial vote for President and the House of Representatives in the school’s National Mock Election. Along the way, they learned about the voting process and how their opinions matched those of their fellow students and the general public.

Senior Brittany Lasher hands a completed voter registration form to teacher Kathie DeKalb.

      Before they could cast a ballot, students fill out voter registration forms on Oct. 22 or Oct. 23. The forms were adapted from the official voter registration form used by New York State. Similar to the real-life system of voting, only students who made the effort to register were allowed to vote. “We wanted this election to be the students’ responsibility,” said teacher Kathie DeKalb, who organized the activity along with teacher Will Ryan. Teachers used the registration process as an opportunity to talk about political parties, the political process, and the importance of voting, De Kalb said.
        Following registration, students were given an instructional letter and a unique voter identification code. Using their ID, they voted at home or on any school computer. They were encouraged to vote at home so they could discuss this process with their parents. Each student could vote only once, and no votes were accepted after Oct. 30.                                                                                       

      Candidate voting was for the presidential tickets headed by Barak Obama, John McCain, Roger Calero, Gloria La Riva, Cynthia McKinney, Bob Barr, Ralph Nader, and write-ins and the 21st District House of Represenatives race among candidates Paul Tonko, James Buhrmaster, and Phillip Steck.
Student voting went beyond just candidates, however. They are asked their opinions on how the government should spend tax dollars and about which issues are most important: health care, the economy, global climate change, energy, national security, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
     They were also asked which former president they would want to lead the United States today: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, or Bill Clinton.
      Results of the voting were released to students on Election Day, Nov. 4. Students will be able to compare their votes with those of the general population. DeKalb said students could also use the results to study statistics in math classes.
      Counselor Kurt Fetter said the message he would give to students is that every vote counts. He noted that he and his two sons were delayed and unable to cast their votes in an organization’s election and their candidate lost by three votes. “It ended up making a huge difference,” Fetter said.

And the winner is . . . 

     Students grades 3-6 had the opportunity to cast their votes for either Barrack Obama or John McCain on Tuesday. They voted the old-fashioned way, with paper ballots. The final tally was Obama 74, McCain 69.
 

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