Dells students vote for Obama
Anna Krejci/Events
Wisconsin Dells High School sophomore Jon Bender casts his vote for U.S. president during a mock election at the school Wednesday. Junior Nathan Palmer (seated) and senior Marcus Weldy assist. High school students elected Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., with 244 votes. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., garnered 76 votes.
By Anna Krejci, Dells Events
In a mock election this week Wisconsin Dells High School students voted presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., into the Oval Office.
The tally was overwhelmingly in favor of Obama, who garnered 244 votes as opposed to the 76 votes cast for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Independent candidate Ralph Nader collected 11 votes.
The election was organized by social studies teacher Mark Hamburg's leadership in action class. Ballots used contain the names of nine candidates whose names appear on the official ballots. The city of Wisconsin Dells loaned real voting booths to the students to help make the mock election more authentic.
Senior Liz Michaels, a student in the class, said all that was missing were "I voted" stickers.
Students maintained a list of names for the 584 students enrolled at the high school and marked them off as each student cast a vote.
About 331 students voted, bringing turnout to 56 percent, according to Hamburg. Turnout disappointed him a little bit. He expected higher numbers, he said. Turnout among senior voters was lower at 40 percent, but Hamburg said maybe it was because some seniors are of legal voting age. Seventy-four percent of freshmen voted.
"It kind of gives all of us that aren't 18 the experience of voting," senior Kassie White said of the project. She will be of voting age next year.
Students in the Leadership in Action class talked Wednesday morning about how their peers hold strong opinions on the election. Voting ended later that day and ballots were tallied in the afternoon.
"I think everybody's really set on who they want, so they really don't like whoever the other person wants," White said.
Students mentioned war and taxes as several major issues that influenced their votes.
Senior McKenzie La Rue said she considered war service and candidates' stance on gay marriage. She voted for McCain. McCain served in the military and voted no to a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, allowing states to decide the issue.
"I agree with him on most things," La Rue said.
Also influencing her vote was McCain's age.
"He is older, and he does evidently know more than Obama does," she said.
Michaels, who is 18 and will vote in the official election, said she likes Obama's tax break plan. She said the majority of Americans aren't rich and the economy is bad now.
According to Obama's campaign Web site, under his tax plan families earning less than $250,000 will not have tax increases. The average middle class family should save more than $1,000 in taxes.
"To give them tax breaks, I think, is really important," she said.
According to McCain's campaign Web site, McCain wants to keep taxes on businesses low because he believes it will create and maintain jobs. Part of his plan entails eventually eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax. And according to his Web site he wants to lower the corporate tax rate from 35 to 25 percent.
Freshman Jenna Newman said she voted for Obama but worries that people will vote against him because of his race.
Mock election volunteer Marcus Weldy, a senior, said he voted for Obama.
"He understands everything more, and he's got a good vice president," he said.
Students were unsure how the school's results would compare with election results on Nov. 4.
"It's going to be completely different, I think," White said.
Hamburg said the school has conducted mock elections for presidential races for at least the past five, four-year terms. By his recollection he said the students re-elected President George W. Bush in 2004, which was consistent with how the nation voted in the official election. In 2000 students elected Al Gore who lost.
Hamburg said he hoped voters at Wisconsin Dells High School could be like the New Hampshire voters who have a reputation for predicting the winner.
Students will probably continue talking about the election through election day Tuesday.
"Kids are paying attention to it. It's OK for them to be opinionated," Michaels said.