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It wasn’t just adults who got to vote today. Kids across Southwest Missouri also cast ballots in today’s election. Michele Skalicky has more.
Pittman Elementary isn’t a polling site anymore. Voters instead go next door to Holy Trinity.
But voting is still taking place inside this east Springfield school.
Kindergarten thru fifth grade students got a chance today at Pittman to vote for President of the United States, Missouri governor and, if they were in 4th and 5th grade, for other statewide offices.
It’s part of the national program Kids Voting. Nancy Schneider, curriculum facilitator for social studies with Springfield Public Schools, says each school is considered a precinct. Ballots are being taken this afternoon to Missouri State University where they’ll be scanned and uploaded into a database.
By tomorrow morning, results should be available by school, school district, state and nation.
Pittman is one of 26 schools in Springfield taking part in the voluntary program.
When I arrived at lunchtime, 3rd graders were waiting in line to cast their ballots. The school stage was transformed into what looked like an actual polling site, complete with official ballots and privacy partitions.
Savannah Gutierrez was eager to cast her vote in the mock election. She explained how she felt as she waited her turn.
"Really happy because I've never voted before, so it's making me really bubbly inside."
Her classmate Garrett King was also excited to be there."It's a real honor to vote today."
Emily Fahrlander was another student happy to be able to cast her vote.
"It feels good because it feels like not just parents get to vote."
Fahrlander came to the polls as an informed voter. She says she was prepared to vote today.
"My mom voted for John McCain, and I watch the news sometimes, and I've seen Barack Obama and I don't like him, so I voted for John McCain."
Garrett King, however, says he planned to vote for the other candidate."Barack Obama Rules!"
Pittman 2nd grade teacher and the school’s poll captain, says her students were excited to be included in this mock election—they’ve been asking every day when they’ll get to vote. She hopes participating in Kids Voting will have a lasting impact.
"This all started as a project where, they'd done some research, and it shows that kids in states that have participated in this particular activity, have gone on to have higher percentages of kids, when they turn 18, actually voting in future elections."
Nancy Schneider says getting kids interested in voting is what Kids Voting is all about.
"Preparing students to vote is the most important civic responsibility, it's the most important skill we can prepare our students for."
By tomorrow morning, results should be available at kidsvotingmissouri.org.
For KSMU News, I’m Michele Skalicky.