Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Eighth-graders Dennis Chang (left) and Kelly Orasin (right) participate in Redwood Middle School's mock debate.

Redwood students vote in National Mock Elections

President Clinton wins 61.2 percent of votes tallied

By Torre Peña

The area around the ballot box buzzed with discussions ranging from moral issues to taxes as Redwood Middle School students cast their ballots in the 1996 National Student/Parent Mock Election.

When the dust settled and the votes were tallied, 61.2 percent supported Bill Clinton and 38.8 percent favored Bob Dole as the next U.S. president.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, CNN, Time magazine and 50 non-partisan national organizations, the mock election opened up the American political process to young people nationwide. National organizers said the mock election encourages active participation in the political process in a time when voter participation is declining.

"They see the value of democracy, and they see it more emphatically through the voting process," said Rosalie Chako, an eighth-grade English and history teacher at Redwood.

Chako said she organized the election because it was highly successful four years ago when Redwood participated in the same process with more than 5 million other students in all 50 states.

"Our opinions count," said Lora, a seventh-grader, citing character issues as her primary reason for supporting Dole. The results of this mock election will be sent to the next president and Congress, including students' recommendations on a variety of current political issues.

Rebecca, an outspoken, enthusiastic seventh-grader who voted for Clinton, voiced her opinion on the best way to fight crime. "I think there needs to be a stronger policy on gun control."

She echoed some of the issues tackled by students in formal debates occurring every day of the week prior to the mock elections.

Chako orchestrated the debates on the economy, health care, crime, education and the environment to educate students on contemporary issues.

"The eighth-graders prepared for the issues, because they are studying civics," Chako said. "This year, it was more exciting because we were able to use the Internet. The actual research process got them so involved because so much information was literally at their fingertips."

She sent Redwoods' results via the Internet to the All Politics mock election Web site, where results from across the nation were tabulated and televised by CNN on Oct. 30.

At the Web site, there is a tremendous amount of political information.

"It won't be long now before we will be able to prove the effects educated and informed young Americans can have on adult voting decisions," said Steven Dowling, chairman of the National Student/Parent Mock Election, in a press release.

"My mom has a sample ballot, and it has descriptions of all the people, and I asked my mom what each person would do, and then I decided," said Chris, a student interested in computers and the politics of Silicon Valley.

"Children have good ideas," said Heide, a soft-spoken seventh-grader. "It's our future."