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Keokuk Middle School students practice citizenship with mock election
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| Fortune teller Andrea Harrison (right) looked into her crystal ball and cards Saturday to tell free fortunes at the first “Fright Night” hosted by the Keokuk Park and Recreation Advisory Board in Rand Park. |
By Diane Vance /Gate City Staff Writer
Students at Keokuk Middle School went to the voting booths Thursday as an exercise in citizenship during national Character Counts! Week.
Classes voted throughout the day, giving 11, 12 and 13 year olds the opportunity to experience a presidential election. After one more presidential election in 2012, these students will be eligible to vote in the 2016 race.
At the end of the day, Barrack Obama had 284 votes to John McCain's 119.
“Students registered to vote before the election,” said KMS communications teacher Tina Nixon.
Four sixth grade students, Priya Khanolkar, Clark Bogner, Alexis Kemp and Sidney Sanders worked as election judges with supervision from Keokuk volunteer poll worker Janis Carter.
Lee County Auditor Anne Pedersen had official looking ballots made up to include only the Democratic and Republican presidential tickets. Three real voting booths used in Lee County were set up in the middle school's multi-purpose room to give students the U.S. right to privacy while voting. A locked metal ballot box was near the election judges for students to slide the paper ballots after filling in an oval on the ballot.
“We'll know the results by the end of the day,” said Nixon. “We have to return all these ballots to Pedersen's office today so they can be destroyed. The student election judges will count the votes.”
The student election judges were nominated by their teachers.
“We learned what to tell the voters when they sign in to get a ballot,” said Kemp.
“For instance, they can only write on one side of the ballot and they need to fill in an oval completely by their candidate's name,” said Khanolkar.
“We're checking voters' names against the list of registered voters,” said Bogner.
“I took an Internet quiz that asks questions about issues and by the answers, tells you which candidate to vote for that matches my views,” said Kemp. “My choice is Obama. My dad's a Republican and my mom's a Democrat.”
The sixth grade student judges realize the historical significance of the 2008 presidential campaign.
“Obama is the first black man to be a candidate,” said Sanders.
“And Sarah Palin is the first woman who might be the vice president,” added Kemp.
Just before lunch, social studies teacher Kurt Barnes brought his eighth grade history students to vote.
As the students waited in line, there were loud discussions on the merits of Obama and McCain. One girl said she was still undecided and wasn't sure how she would make up her mind in the next few minutes. Others were adamant in their support of a candidate.
“We've talked about the debates in class,” said Macy Murray, an undecided.
Students also get political news on the school's Channel 1 TV program.
“We've discussed the issues, watched the news coverage and read newspapers,” said Barnes. “We've covered some of the misinformation out there, such as the claim Obama is a Muslim or not a U.S. citizen. We've been looking at the presidential race since the second week in September but we don't devote the whole class period to it.”
One of the eighth graders in Barnes' class is French citizen Francois Szezepaniak. He registered and took his ballot into the voting booth. After voting, he said the age for voting in France also is 18. He did not express enthusiasm for either candidate but he is still understanding more English than he is speaking. He did indicate he will live in Keokuk for two years.
“The students have been excited to come vote,” said Carter who has worked many elections in the community over the years. “My great-granddaughter is in sixth grade and she voted earlier this morning.”
According to Wikipedia on the Internet, the first black presidential candidate was Frederick Douglass running on the People's Party ticket with Victoria Woodhull (Claflin) in 1872.
Other black candidates have been:
Shirley Chisholm, a New York teacher elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. She did get the most convention votes for a female candidate in U.S. history.
Jesse Jackson campaigned for the Democratic nomination twice, in 1984 and 1988. These runs secured his place as the pre-eminent black American leader of the era.
Lenora Fulani, a psychologist, ran as an independent in 1988 and was the first black woman to appear on presidential ballots in all 50 states. She also ran in 1992.
Alan Keyes served in the Reagan administration and campaigned for the Republican nomination in 1996 and 2000. He also lost to Barack Obama in their race for a Senate seat in 2004.
Carol Moseley Braun, a U.S. senator, briefly sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004.
Al Sharpton, a New York-based activist campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004.
Geraldine Ferraro was the first female vice-presidential candidate in 1984 on the Democratic ticket with former Vice President and Presidential candidate Walter Mondale. Ronald Reagan and George H. Bush won the 1984 election.
Classes voted throughout the day, giving 11, 12 and 13 year olds the opportunity to experience a presidential election. After one more presidential election in 2012, these students will be eligible to vote in the 2016 race.
At the end of the day, Barrack Obama had 284 votes to John McCain's 119.
“Students registered to vote before the election,” said KMS communications teacher Tina Nixon.
Four sixth grade students, Priya Khanolkar, Clark Bogner, Alexis Kemp and Sidney Sanders worked as election judges with supervision from Keokuk volunteer poll worker Janis Carter.
Lee County Auditor Anne Pedersen had official looking ballots made up to include only the Democratic and Republican presidential tickets. Three real voting booths used in Lee County were set up in the middle school's multi-purpose room to give students the U.S. right to privacy while voting. A locked metal ballot box was near the election judges for students to slide the paper ballots after filling in an oval on the ballot.
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The student election judges were nominated by their teachers.
“We learned what to tell the voters when they sign in to get a ballot,” said Kemp.
“For instance, they can only write on one side of the ballot and they need to fill in an oval completely by their candidate's name,” said Khanolkar.
“We're checking voters' names against the list of registered voters,” said Bogner.
“I took an Internet quiz that asks questions about issues and by the answers, tells you which candidate to vote for that matches my views,” said Kemp. “My choice is Obama. My dad's a Republican and my mom's a Democrat.”
The sixth grade student judges realize the historical significance of the 2008 presidential campaign.
“Obama is the first black man to be a candidate,” said Sanders.
“And Sarah Palin is the first woman who might be the vice president,” added Kemp.
Just before lunch, social studies teacher Kurt Barnes brought his eighth grade history students to vote.
As the students waited in line, there were loud discussions on the merits of Obama and McCain. One girl said she was still undecided and wasn't sure how she would make up her mind in the next few minutes. Others were adamant in their support of a candidate.
“We've talked about the debates in class,” said Macy Murray, an undecided.
Students also get political news on the school's Channel 1 TV program.
“We've discussed the issues, watched the news coverage and read newspapers,” said Barnes. “We've covered some of the misinformation out there, such as the claim Obama is a Muslim or not a U.S. citizen. We've been looking at the presidential race since the second week in September but we don't devote the whole class period to it.”
One of the eighth graders in Barnes' class is French citizen Francois Szezepaniak. He registered and took his ballot into the voting booth. After voting, he said the age for voting in France also is 18. He did not express enthusiasm for either candidate but he is still understanding more English than he is speaking. He did indicate he will live in Keokuk for two years.
“The students have been excited to come vote,” said Carter who has worked many elections in the community over the years. “My great-granddaughter is in sixth grade and she voted earlier this morning.”
According to Wikipedia on the Internet, the first black presidential candidate was Frederick Douglass running on the People's Party ticket with Victoria Woodhull (Claflin) in 1872.
Other black candidates have been:
Shirley Chisholm, a New York teacher elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. She did get the most convention votes for a female candidate in U.S. history.
Jesse Jackson campaigned for the Democratic nomination twice, in 1984 and 1988. These runs secured his place as the pre-eminent black American leader of the era.
Lenora Fulani, a psychologist, ran as an independent in 1988 and was the first black woman to appear on presidential ballots in all 50 states. She also ran in 1992.
Alan Keyes served in the Reagan administration and campaigned for the Republican nomination in 1996 and 2000. He also lost to Barack Obama in their race for a Senate seat in 2004.
Carol Moseley Braun, a U.S. senator, briefly sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004.
Al Sharpton, a New York-based activist campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004.
Geraldine Ferraro was the first female vice-presidential candidate in 1984 on the Democratic ticket with former Vice President and Presidential candidate Walter Mondale. Ronald Reagan and George H. Bush won the 1984 election.
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Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of dailygate.com.
Get a CHECK wrote on Oct 31, 2008 4:30 PM:
" Vote for Obama get a check. This plays well in Keokuk.
The only people that will benifit from Obama are the ones that don't pay taxes.
Be careful for what you wish!!!! "
The only people that will benifit from Obama are the ones that don't pay taxes.
Be careful for what you wish!!!! "
Amy wrote on Oct 31, 2008 1:45 PM:
" A friend sent this to me today regarding children in these mock elections! Most have no idea what is going on!
I watched a news commentator the other day talk to some younger voters; and he asked them
who they were voting for and they said Obama. Then he said, well I guess it is okay with you if he has
a woman vice president...their answer...oh yeah that's okay! And then he asked if it was also okay for
us to keep troops in Iraq for awhile yet?? And this young person replied, yes that is okay!! In other words
he took a bunch of stuff McCain and Palin stand for; and used to portray what Obama stands for and these
young people did not even know the difference!! "
I watched a news commentator the other day talk to some younger voters; and he asked them
who they were voting for and they said Obama. Then he said, well I guess it is okay with you if he has
a woman vice president...their answer...oh yeah that's okay! And then he asked if it was also okay for
us to keep troops in Iraq for awhile yet?? And this young person replied, yes that is okay!! In other words
he took a bunch of stuff McCain and Palin stand for; and used to portray what Obama stands for and these
young people did not even know the difference!! "
Interested wrote on Oct 31, 2008 12:00 PM:
" I'm glad students are learning and practicing 'civics'. Happy to see the paper carrying the article. Keokuk Catholic Schools are also having a 'mock' election on Tuesday, I believe. Would be great to see that article as well. I am always glad to read articles about children learning and having contests to show us what they are learning. Better than listening to the latest sports scores. Although we need that too, good exercise for the kids and team playing learned in sports as well as in scholastic contests.
I feel this country will look very different if Mr. Obama wins. I think this will not be the same America we once knew, although right now it doesn't really look the same either. I just don't trust Mr. Obama so it didn't surprise me to learn about the people he associates with in his every day life. Uh oh, we better be careful. "
I feel this country will look very different if Mr. Obama wins. I think this will not be the same America we once knew, although right now it doesn't really look the same either. I just don't trust Mr. Obama so it didn't surprise me to learn about the people he associates with in his every day life. Uh oh, we better be careful. "
to J wrote on Oct 31, 2008 9:53 AM:
" you cited the NY Times? You couldn't find a more liberal newspaper? Maybe the Havana Daily News next time would be a better source. "
J wrote on Oct 25, 2008 11:20 AM:
" Nice try CJ. Not responding to a RFA and actually admitting that the baseless claims made by a nutjob attorney have a factual basis are two VERY different things.
Maybe John McCain should withdraw:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/us/politics/11mccain.html "
Maybe John McCain should withdraw:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/us/politics/11mccain.html "
not me wrote on Oct 25, 2008 9:41 AM:
" I could care less who a middle school kid votes for...it makes a good class room diversion but for goodness sakes do we need it published in the paper? Does the paper publish it when they have a math event? Well knowing this paper, they just might. If it wasn't for the school ballgames and BS, there wouldn't be a newspaper. News reporting is non-existant in this town. It is none of our business who had a fire, got arrested, bought a marriage license, bought and sold property all that stuff but we know what a 12 year old marked on a ballot. Sick!! "
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Kids and the future wrote on Nov 2, 2008 3:37 AM: