High school students across California will vote for their choice for president of the United States in MyVote California’s mock election, January 28-29, one week before California’s presidential primary election.
Students will be asked to select their choice for president and to take a stand on three simulated ballot measures. They’ll cast their votes on paper ballots, tabulated by the schools, which will report their results to the secretary of state’s office. The secretary of state will announce the mock election results on Jan. 30.
The program is designed to offer students a chance to learn about candidates and public policy issues, and participating schools and teachers will use the mock election as a means to foster discussions about the candidates and issues. “Students who have early exposure to civic engagement opportunities, like MyVote, are more likely to participate in voting, volunteering, and public debate as adults than those who don’t have the chance to practice participating in a democratic process,” said LegiSchool project coordinator Sarah Vogel.
Nearly 400 schools with more than 200,000 students have opted to participate. Schools can choose to participate and get more information at: http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/studentmockelection.htm.
The LegiSchool project at the Center for California Studies at Sacramento State, along with California Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, and California Secretary of State Debra Bowen are the partners behind the statewide youth civic engagement project.
For more information, contact the Center for California Studies at (916) 278-6906 or visit www.csus.edu/calst/. For media assistance, contact Sacramento State’s Public Affairs office at (916) 278-6156.
