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Students Cast Their Votes

By KFBB News Team

Story Created: Oct 28, 2010 at 6:38 PM MDT

Story Updated: Oct 29, 2010 at 6:57 PM MDT

With the November General Election just days away, everyone’s getting in on the election season action, even kids, who are gearing up to be dutiful citizens.

“Sometimes it feels like if you’re a kid you don’t really get to choose anything,” says Student Election Judge Cameron Wall.

But thanks to the 2010 Montana Student Mock Elections, thousands of kids across the Treasure State are getting a choice.

“We know when students get involved in the civic process, specifically in knowing what voting is and what voting does, that they’re more likely to vote young and vote early and continue to vote during the rest of their lives,” says Secretary of State Linda McCulloch.

Elementary, middle and high-school students are getting a head start on preparing for their civic duty and students at East Valley Middle School are excited for the future.

East Valley Middle School 7th grader Austin McLaughlin says “voting really makes a difference and when I’m 18 I’m actually going to be able to make a difference.”

The mock election ballot includes statewide candidate races and each of the four ballot issues appearing on the November General Election ballot; along with issues kids say matter to them.

“Well one of the issues I mainly remember is cell phone use in school,” giggles Student Election Judge Madison Siebenaler.

“We want them to have the chance to actually all get to vote and give their opinions,” adds McCulloch.

Students say this program will make voting easier for them when they turn 18.

“It will just be a lot easier because we’ve already done it before,” says another Student Election Judge, Rhees Miller.

And not only are our future voters having fun, they recognize just how important it is to have a say in our government.

“Because sometimes kids feel that they don’t have a say in what is going on in our state and it’s really nice for them to be able to do this mock election to feel a little bit more importance,” adds Siebenaler.

During the presidential election in 2008, over 20,000 Montana students participated in a mock election.

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