DEL.ICIO.USStudents pick Obama in mock election
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, October 31, 2008
More than 205,000 students from around Georgia avoided long lines to cast votes for the presidential election.
Voting online in a mock election, their choice was Barack Obama by 58.6 percent. John McCain captured 35.5 percent of the vote.
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Local students are among more than a million nationwide who voted in the mock election, sponsored by the Youth Leadership Initiative, an education program based at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
Students at 1,128 schools across the country picked Obama by 60 percent, said Meg Heubeck, director of instruction for the YLI. Students were asked which issue they felt was important to the election, and 39.4 percent said the economy is the biggest concern.
The results are not scientific, nor are they designed to predict the outcome of Tuesday’s general election.
While there are other options for schools wanting to host mock elections, the free online program simplifies the process by eliminating paper ballots.
“You can’t cheat,” said Heubeck, who previously was a teacher in Baltimore for 12 years.
Lesson plans were also available to students and school districts, with age appropriate material for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade.
All Cobb and Marietta schools — public and private — were invited to participate, along with students who are home-schooled. Other metro schools, including some in DeKalb and Fulton counties, also participated.
Hillgrove High School social studies teacher Lisa Joseph spent a month planning her school’s election, where the 920-student vote ended in dead split between Obama and McCain.
“I had to look at it twice to make sure,” said Joseph, whose classroom served as precinct. Schools could vote online from October 20th through Thursday.
Other local results:
• At Campbell High School, Obama captured 84 percent of the vote, said principal Kehl Arnson. Over 90 percent of the students voted.
• At Walton High: Obama captured 53 percent of the 549 total votes cast.
• At Sprayberry High: Obama won 57 percent of the vote.
School officials from the Cobb and Marietta districts expect to have system totals tallied by Monday.
