Students at Nelson Ridge School Vote Early in a Mock Election

Today is Election Day, but students at Nelson Ridge Elementary School have already cast their ballots. Yes, students as young as 9-years-old voted for president and vice president.

The voting took place Oct. 30 and was conducted online, said Nancy Mistro, 5th-grade teacher and coordinator of the My Voice National Student Mock Election for the nearly 500 students in grades 4th, 5th and 6th.

Just like real elections where the results from certain precincts become problematic due to an array of variables—misplaced ballots, computer errors, accusations of vote fraud and more—the election at Nelson Ridge encountered some problems too. This time though there was no risk of mishandled ballots. Mother Nature was to blame.

Because Hurricane Sandy knocked out power on the East Coast, the national mock election program was crippled for a few days. Consequently, the online voting system is backed up, and the results from Nelson Ridge won't be posted until sometime next week.

Schools participating in the My Voice National Student Mock Election were given about a two-week window to conduct the election. The spread allowed teachers to build in civics lessons to coincide with the program, said Mistro.

While this is the third year that Mistro has coordinated a mock election as part of the curriculum at Nelson Ridge, it's the first bona fide presidential election.  

In the weeks leading up to Election Day, the students were introduced to the crucial role that voters play when it comes to electing their representatives in government.

"Basically students got an election book that guided them through the process, candidates and issues," Mistro said.

Depending on the grade, teachers adapted the program to suit their needs. Some teachers assigned students to watch the presidential debates and others devoted time toward issues analyses. The topics for intermediate school children were no different than real ones facing registered voters on Tuesday.

Shared over juice boxes rather than coffee, the discussion topics were: energy, the environment, the national debt, health care and the economy.

"Before Election Day, "voter registrars were sworn in." They registered each student in the class individually, and the students signed a voter's card."  The entire program was life-like, she said. Five polling precincts were established and the school had designated election judges.

On the day of the mock election, students arrived at their polling place and presented their voter's registration card. "Student election judges highlighted their name on a roster, had the student sign in as a voter, gave out an 'I Voted' sticker, and then took the voter to a computer where they were able to vote for president and for the issues.'"

The program was created to mirror the real election as closely as possible, she added. "Students took their responsibilities as registrars, judges, and voters very seriously. They were very excited to be able to participate in this election and enjoyed learning about the voting process."

The nationwide results of the My Voice Mock Election program are expected later in the month, said Mistro.

Two Ways to Stay Connected to New Lenox Patch:

• Subscribe to our newsletters to have headlines and breaking news delivered to your inbox.
• "Like" our Facebook page for updates throughout the day.