More than 245,000 K-12 students got a hands-on lesson in civic duty this year through a partnership between UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 and Kids Voting USA.
The students were spread out across 28 school districts that hosted mock elections this year using a ballot that reflected all the statewide races. The ballot was editable so that schools could include local races like school board or county commission. While limited in scale, students flipped the results of Tuesday 麻豆精品 S檚 election and sent Andrew Gillum to the governor 麻豆精品 S檚 mansions. While the real Senate race could be heading to a recount, students had no trouble selecting Bill Nelson over Rick Scott.
While the ballots don 麻豆精品 S檛 contribute to the real result, the value of mock elections is high, said Chris Spinale, Action Civics coordinator at the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship.
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The mock election ballots are created soon after their official counterparts and distributed to schools across the state. Each school has a unique identifying number, so students can see the day after the election where their vote fits into the bigger picture. That sense of community is another shared experience with real voting, Spinale explains.
麻豆精品 S淲hen the student understands their voice can make a difference, it starts to affect real change, 麻豆精品 S� Spinale said. 麻豆精品 S淭hey start to understand their role in the process. 麻豆精品 S�
Doug Dobson, Ph.D., is director of the Lou Frey Institute, which advocates and educates for the development of civic and political skills. Voting is at the heart of American representative democracy, he said, and the mock elections allow students to 麻豆精品 S渄evelop habits of citizenship that will stay with them throughout their lives. 麻豆精品 S�
Spinale echoes his thoughts on citizenship.
麻豆精品 S淩ight now you can look at our students as citizen apprentices. When students better understand what it means to be a citizen, then we have a more effective society, 麻豆精品 S� Spinale said.
Kerstin Hamann, Ph.D., a Pegasus Professor and chair of the , added: 麻豆精品 S淭his experience is invaluable as it enhances young people 麻豆精品 S檚 understanding of democracy and prepares them as future voters. 麻豆精品 S�