By Megan Perez
Update: The results are in!
Valley View Community School: Obama 79% Romney 21%
Sulphur Springs Community School: Obama 50% Romney 50%
It could give an interesting insight into results of the upcoming presidential election.
More than 1,300 local elementary students cast their vote for the United States President Tuesday at two schools in the Sulphur Springs School District.
“Students in classes have learned about the political process and their rights as citizens to vote,” said Kim Porter, assistant principal at both Valley View and Sulphur Springs Community Schools.
“They’re learning about the U.S. Government and about what each of the candidates has to offer in all different aspects from the economy to foreign policy. Hopefully by giving them the opportunity to vote today, it will help them in the future to realize how important voting is,” Porter said.
Nationwide, up to 5 million students at 11,000 schools are expected to visit the polls thru Nov. 2 in an online mock election hosted by Studies Weekly. The voting deadline was extended along the east coast due to Hurricane Sandy.
The election is open to students in grades K-12, however most of the student voters will be elementary students, according to the Studies Weekly website.
Although their votes won’t count in the real election, the results of this mock election may offer some insight into the outcome of the Nov. 6 presidential election. Studies Weekly claims that kids accurately predicted the next U.S. President in both the 2004 and 2008 elections, according to its website.
“Their vote is their own vote but it’s probably a reflection of their own families opinions and values,” said Valley View Principal Rick Drew.
“We’re giving them this opportunity to vote as young children so that when they’re 18, they can exercise their rights as citizens in the United States to vote. And it’s a lot of fun for them too,” Drew said.
Class by class, students in grades K-6 at both Sulphur Springs and Valley View Community Schools visited the computer lab to cast their online votes. Each of the students received an “I Voted” sticker to proudly wear for the rest of the day.
The polls will close at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Results from each school site will be published Wednesday.
Valley View, Sulphur Pupils Vote in Mock Election http://scvtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/nsd060512artshow.jpg
