Mock elections at R-I offer glimpse of Tuesday potential

Students at two Poplar Bluff R-I schools turned out this week for the candidates they favor.

Poplar Bluff High School and Junior High students visited a mock polling location at each school to help students understand the importance of casting a vote.

The junior high students received a presidential ballot Thursday, while at the high school level students filled out a complete ballot Tuesday.

As far as the results when it comes to the presidential race, both groups favored the Trump/Pence ballot and high school students overwhelmingly went Republican.

Kathleen Pattillo, eighth grade American history teacher who organized the junior high mock election, said she was surprised by the number of students who voted for the Libertarian candidate, which totalled 9% of votes cast.

At that level, she said, most of students’ views on politics come from what they hear at home, and as such, these mock elections tend to indicate how the area as a whole will vote on Tuesday.

“When you’re doing an election like this, it kind of gives you a snapshot into how Poplar Bluff (leans),” Pattillo said. “Because a lot of times the kids will reflect what their family believes politically, and how they lean as far as their view on particular topics.”

Along with American history, Pattillo teaches a government class that’s available as an elective for students. In that class, she said, the students watched all of the presidential debates and town halls before discussing tactics, such as appeal to emotion and bandwagon, which candidates can use to when arguing their points.

“That class really knows a lot about the individual issues, per party, and what the party platforms are,” she said.

At the junior high level, the mock election mostly was about encouraging students to get registered when they turn 18 and take part in the election process as an adult. For some of these students, they’ll be able to vote when the 2024 presidential election comes around, Pattillo said.

“This is our last time really with them to emphasize how important it is to go register and vote,” she continued. “That’s really been our focus, when you turn 18, register to vote. It’s not really about analyzing the issues, that’s kind of on the family.”

Meanwhile, at the high school level, students filled out a complete ballot, similar to the ones voters will fill out Tuesday. Contested races include presidential, governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, attorney general, the eighth Congressional district, county commission and several amendments.

For all the races, the Republican candidates won the majority of votes, and the amendments passed.

“Typically, the results from the mock election mirror the results of the county,” said Gail Rosmarin, who ran the high school mock election. “Also, based on student comments, their results may be very accurate of the county.”

According to the exit poll conducted, Trump received 52% of the 737 votes cast, while Biden received 31%, and Kanye West received 5.4%

Rosmarin said she was disappointed by voter turnout, but wasn’t surprised due to the number of students out for COVID-19 related issues.

“The turnout by the seniors is always low because they are not in a history class, where the students are given the opportunity to go vote,” she said. “We did make an announcement at the end of the day for anyone who did not get a chance to vote to come over to vote.”

According to exit polling, most Trump supporters were freshmen and sophomore, white, male and Christian. Meanwhile, most Biden supporters were juniors and seniors, Black, female and atheist/other religious affiliation.

The exit poll also highlighted a difference in the key issues people who favored each candidate valued.

Trump supporters listed health care, abortion and military issues, with none of them receiving more than 50% support as very important.

Biden supporters listed LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, health care, education, COVID-19, abortion and race relationships as most important, with at least 50% of respondents listing those issues.

Rosmarin shared the same goal as Pattillo, getting students involved in the process and encouraging them to get registered when they’re able to vote.

The students not only vote at the high school, but also serve as poll workers and count the ballots.

“The goal of the mock election is to provide students with a simulation of the voting and the voting process,” she said. “It is our hope that students when they are eligible to vote will register and will be familiar with the voting process and maybe even be a poll worker someday since they participated in the mock election.”