Mock Elections

Yesterday, after enrichment, we drove over to the boys and girls club here in our town where several moms and several "poll" volunteers were gathered and set up a "Mock Election" for our homeschool community.

As we arrived, the children were all given a voters registration card and ask to complete it. They stated that Texas drivers license and their social security number wasn't necessary due to the fact that many are under 16 (therefore no drivers license), but also it was just a "staged" election anyway, we were just trying to provide the children with the experience. After the registration card was completed by most of the children, the leader of the volunteer "poll" group spoke to us about the importance of voting and more good information the kids could glean. One of the Homeschool moms in charge of the event spoke to the kids about the importance of knowing who you are voting for, the importance of reading the entire question and such before voting. That we are to "campaign" for our votes before we vote, but not while we are standing in line and while we are voting.

The children were then asked to line up and start the process. They handed their registration cards over to some "older" teenagers who wrote their names down and had them sign their names and such and handed them their ballot. This led to another line to wait their turn to cast their votes for President (we had 8 candidates on the ballot, all who are real on the real ballot you and I will cast today or if you have already voted) and then silly questions like referendums to vote for. An example of one of the questions:

If you as an older sibling do not keep your room clean, you will not only have to clean your room, but your younger siblings rooms as well. Yes _________ No __________

This received a lot of laughs and "No way" comments to "Yes" my older sister would always have to clean my room and so on. Another example:

The Homeschool Groups Robot Team is the best! Yes___________ Yes ___________

No that isn't a typo, it was literally the only thing you could vote for was a "yes" answer.

After they made their votes, they went and put their ballot in the "Ballot Box" and received a "I voted" sticker. This was truly a learning experience for all the children involved and it really helped them to know the voting process. Yes, most of us have learned all about the electoral college and such and the Popular vote vs the Electoral votes. However the children received a great view for how the whole procedure was arranged.

We received the voting results last night on the president only and McCain won by a land slide with 46 votes! Woohoo! You already knew I was his supporter! Obama received 6 votes and an independent received 1 vote. The rest of the voting results will be posted near the end of the week. Truly it was