PBHS students vote for Trump, Bernie in mock election

While those over 18 made their way to polling locations Tuesday, the students and faculty at Poplar Bluff High School received the opportunity to vote in a mock election held at the gym.

The mock election has been part of the school for over 26 years. Government teacher Gail Rosmarin said in that time the mock election results are normally close to the state results.

However, for the Democrats at least, that proved not to be true this year. With all Missouri precincts reporting, former vice-president Joe Biden received 60.18% of the votes while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders received 34.57% of votes.

Freshmen Abbie Greaver and Naomi Morton fold and submit their ballots during the mock election.DAR/Michael Shine

At PBHS, Sanders won the vote with 149 out of the 320 Democrat ballots cast. Biden received 92 votes. Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard, the only other Democrat still in the race, received nine votes — or 2.8% of the vote, while statewide she won 0.73% of votes.

The Republican votes more closely aligned with the state results. President Donald J. Trump received 90.59% of the student vote and 96.84% of the state votes.

Students could also vote for third-party candidates with the Constitution, Green and Libertarian parties. Between the three, 22 voted third party, or 2.40%, while statewide 0.35% of voters went third party.

Rosmarin said the goal with this mock election is to be a learning experience for the students.

“They’ll have this simulation that’s as close as we can make it so they’ll be familiar with it when they can vote,” she said. Government students also spend time as poll workers and vote counters, which means they get training in that area of the process as well.

The students came into the gym with their social studies class throughout the day Tuesday and were given the opportunity to vote. Rosmarin said some students did choose not to vote.

The gym itself was split into five voting precincts: one for each class and one for staff. Mock voters would tell the poll workers which ballot they wanted, then go over to the bleachers to mark it before handing it in and receiving an “I voted” sticker.

Throughout the day, the vote counters collected the ballots and took them back to a classroom to be tallied. Sophomore Olivia Kirkman, who worked as a counter, said she noticed the underclassmen seemed to be voting for Sanders more often than the upperclassman, which proved to be true. Of Sanders’ 149 votes, 87 came from freshmen and sophomores.

“It’s interesting to see what (the students) think about politics,” Kirkman said. As a sophmore, she hasn’t taken a government class at the high school yet.

For Seniors Bethany Leighty and Ray Hederer, the mock election was more real. Hederer went out to vote in the state primary after school Tuesday and Leighty will be able to vote in the November election.

Hederer said the issues of gay marriage and access to college were two of the main issues he considered when voting. However, both agreed that the economy is a big issue.

Leighty said she voted for Trump and Hederer said he voted for Bernie.

She said as long as Trump continues what he’s been doing, she’ll vote for him.

Hederer said he has concerns about Biden in office because of issues he’s already showing on the campaign trail.

“And I think if Bernie wins the nomination, he would have a stronger chance,” he said. “It comes down to, I cannot willingly vote for Trump while he’s got (vice-president Mike) Pence.”

Despite a difference in political leaning, both had the same message about why this kind of activity can benefit the students and why voting is important.

“It gives people a voice,” Leighty said. “It allows people to say ‘OK, I don’t like this policy you’re doing so I’m going to let it show that I’m not accepting it.’ (Voting) gives us a voice in politics even though we’re not in Washington right now deciding what policies are going to be put in place.”

The results of the election will be used in the government classes, Rosmarin said, where they’ll be compared to state and county results.