State holds mock election for student 'voters'

OLYMPIA - While last-minute voters are still filling in ovals, stuffing envelopes and getting to the ballot box or post office, students in Washington already "voted" last week, "electing" Barack Obama and Jay Inslee.

In an effort to promote civic engagement and groom informed voters, Washington's Secretary of State Office held its ninth mock election for students in grades K-12. This year there was a record amount of youth voters: 38,848, far outpacing the last benchmark of 18,000 in 2008.

"I'm really impressed with the huge increase in the number of students voting in this year's mock election," Secretary of State Sam Reed said. "A big thank you to the teachers and students in our state for their participation."

Electronic polls were open from Monday morning to Friday afternoon last week. Students could vote any time and results were released Friday.

Across the state, Obama clinched 69.01 percent of the vote while Republican opponent Mitt Romney took 30.99 percent in the student poll.

The youth also selected Democrat Jay Inslee over Republican Rob McKenna by a 15 point spread. State issues regarding charter schools and marijuana were tight, with students narrowly approving charter schools and rejecting the marijuana initiative.

Gay marriage was approved with almost 68 percent voting in favor.

Locally, almost 525 students in Grant County participated in the mock election.

By and large, results were the same, though Warden students approved McKenna over Inslee. The margins weren't nearly as wide in Grant County between the other races.

The Secretary of State's Office has students vote on actual ballot language from grades 6-12.

Younger students receive a more age-appropriate description of the ballot. This year, younger students did not vote on the issues of same-sex marriage or marijuana legalization.