Tuesday, 05 February 2008 08:04
Teens Vote in Mock Election
If you ask California’s high school students, candidates Barack Obama and John McCain should be their parties’ presidential nominees. As reported on TSPN, more than 240,000 students from 450 middle and high schools across the state took part in a mock election to vote for the presidential nominees – including students at Amador High School. The 2008 MyVote California student mock election was sponsored by the Secretary of State’s office and the state superintendent of schools. In the election, students received one ballot that listed all 48 of the candidates that Secretary Bowen has certified for today’s election.
The students then chose only one candidate. Results for the Democratic candidates were Barack Obama, 55 percent, Hillary Clinton, 36 percent. On the Republican side, John McCain got 30 percent of the student vote and Mike Huckabee, 20 percent. Mitt Romney received 15 percent of Republican votes. The mock election also included 3 ballot measures on issues that would directly affect students’ lives and their wallets, which is why MyVote California included three simulated ballot initiatives dealing with issues that legislators are actually grappling with today.” Students were asked whether California should adopt a mandatory voting law, whether people should pay higher vehicle registration fees for cars that produce more pollution, and whether free speech rights protect people who use e-mail or text messaging to bully or harass others. Students voted no on all three of the simulated ballot initiatives.
