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Hillsborough Students To Vote In Mock Election

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Published: October 20, 2008

TAMPA - Hillsborough's 191,000 students will soon carry voter identification cards and cast presidential ballots on their school computers.

How they vote in the mock election next week won't be known until late Nov. 4, but the results will include analysis by school, class, gender and grade, said Bobby Fox, director, Kids Voting Tampa Bay.

"The voter ID will be a reminder to vote when they turn 18," Fox said.

The online voting is called "Double Click for Democracy." Kindergarten through third graders will vote for president only; grades four through six will vote for president and congressional seats; grades seven and eight will vote for those offices plus Florida House seats. High school students also will vote for state constitutional amendments.

Kids Voting Tampa Bay is part of the national nonpartisan Kids Voting USA program supported by private companies and grants to prepare young people to become engaged voters.

This will be the third election for Kids Voting Tampa Bay in Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Hernando and Citrus counties, Fox said, and only Hillsborough will use computers. The other districts will continue using paper ballots with some students traveling to real precincts, he said.

In past mock elections, Hillsborough students bubbled in their choices on paper ballots in schools, said Dennis Holt, Hillsborough County's high school social studies supervisor.

Reporter Marilyn Brown can be reached at (813) 259-8069.

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