A Minnesota election for the ages? Yes, ages 4 through 10
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The voters lined up in the hallway Monday at Hall STEM Academy to register for the election. They were eager to vote but needed a little help learning how to fill in their ballots. They were first graders, after all, and it’s just not something they prep you for in kindergarten.
“Show me with fingers, how many squares are you going to do?” library media specialist Janet Parker asked.
“One!” the students shouted back.
Hall STEM Academy was among the schools around Minnesota holding mock elections Monday as a way to teach students how the voting process works and have a little fun in what’s been a tense election cycle at times for adults.
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Parker coordinated with Minnesota Students Voting, an initiative through the Minnesota Office of the Secretary of State and the YMCA Center for Youth Voice to give students and their teachers resources to learn about the power of democracy.
At Hall STEM, it made for some interesting conversation. For some of the young voters their decision came down to gender. For others, it came down to what they’ve heard their parents talk about or what they’ve seen on the news.
Early exit polls showed younger voters — kindergarten through second grade — favoring Donald Trump. First grader Easton Freeman voted for Trump and running mate JD Vance because “they’re boys” and “they look strong and cool.”
The assassination attempt on Trump in July left a strong impression on fourth grader Nyrius Abbaa.
“I voted for him because he is like a very brave man, and he went through a lot of things as president, like getting shot in his ear,” Nyrius said.
Older voters, like fourth grader Carter Mosley, favored Kamala Harris. She’s excited about the idea of a woman president and she also learned the importance of voting.
“Since we can vote, we get to choose who are actually good people,” Mosley said. “And that’s a good thing, because nobody wants to have a bad person as president.”
Nine-year-old Gabriel Zimmerman was most worried about his safety and saw Harris as the right choice.
“The reason why I voted for Kamala Harris is because Kamala Harris cares for us and will do anything to keep us Americans safe,” Gabriel said, adding that Trump “only cares about his rich friends and stuff.”
Mock election advocates say it’s important to start kids young on the importance of voting and how the country works.
“I have been an election observer before, but rather than work the actual polls this year, I thought it would be more fun to invest in the future of our democracy and introduce these kids to voting,” said parent Jennifer Debrow, who served as a mock election judge Monday.
Parker is encouraging kids to go with their parents to see actual voting.
“A lot of them are just really curious about it and why we’re doing it and how it works,” Parker said. “I think it’s good to have them physically go through that process to understand it, and not just imagine it a little bit or read a story about it but actually practice it.”
When the votes were tabulated at Hall STEM, Harris and her vice presidential running mate Gov. Tim Walz took the presidency in a landslide. Regardless of their choices, all the kids left happy with an “I Voted” sticker.
