Local students learn about election process by voting

A local program is continuing its efforts to get young people to the polls on Nov. 7.

The Bourbon County Chapter of the Kids Voting Kansas program, part of a state and national non-profit voter education program, is designed to allow kindergarten through 12th grade students across the country a chance to learn more about the election process through voting simulations and classroom learning.

These young people learn how to register to vote and then cast ballots with their parents in local, state and national elections. The national program was created in 1992 to address poor voter turnout over the years.

Youth ballots are identical to the ballots used by adults and contain a full slate of candidates and issues. Older students vote on the entire ballot while younger students vote on races and issues that are appropriate to their grade level, a statement from the organization said.

The program is currently available nationwide in more than 100 communities in 28 states. The program reaches more than 4 million students with the help of 200,000 teachers in 10,600 schools, the statement said.

The Kids Voting program also aims to get young people to vote until the age of 18, when their votes will become part of the actual elective process, and keep them voting and active in that process throughout their lifetimes.

A statement from Emily Bradbury, the executive director of the Kids Voting Kansas program, said that in 1972, when 18-year olds received the right to vote, those teenagers voted at a rate of 50 percent. That rate has declined ever since, with only about 15 percent to 20 percent of 18-to-24-year-old voters heading to the polls in the most recent election.

Since 1972, the voter turnout for that particular age group has never been above 50 percent, the statement said.

Participating communities pay fees to the state office that cover costs associated with Kids Voting and local committees are formed to make the program possible. This year, the Bourbon County program raised enough money through donations, special events and fund raisers to pay the $1,245 fee to the state agency, local Kids Voting committee member Tim Emerson said.

Donations came from six local banks, the City of Fort Scott, Bourbon County, and both the Bourbon County Democratic and Republican parties, Emerson said.

Youth visit actual polling places with their parents on Election Day. These polling places are typically manned by local students and other volunteers. Program officials originally wanted to let kids vote in schools, but allowing kids to go along with their parents to the polling place actually encourages those adults to vote as well, Emerson said. Many of the kids are able to vote after school. Kindergarten through eighth grade students must be accompanied by adults.

All youth ballots will be counted and tabulated by the program steering committee at the Bourbon County Courthouse, Bourbon County Clerk and Election Officer Joanne Long said. After all votes are tallied, the results will be released, Emerson said.

More than 2,600 students in all Bourbon County public, private and parochial schools are registered to vote, he said. More than 1,800 kindergarten through 12th grade students in Bourbon County registered to vote through Kids Voting Kansas in the 2004 election.

Each Bourbon County precinct will be equipped with ballot boxes and easy-to-use ballots for each young voter to use. Each school district is responsible for notifying and informing children and parents of how the Kids Voting program works.

The statewide program has been successful over the years, as adult voter turnout has increased an average of five percent in communities where the youth voting initiative is in place, a statement from the University of Kansas said.

By 2002, Kids Voting programs nationwide helped five million students in 40 states understand the election process. Kansas Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh coordinates the program's efforts in Kansas.

For more information, visit the organization's Internet site at www.kidsvotingkansas.org.