Bar foundation’s mock election program expands statewide

With mere weeks until the 2024 general election, and even less time until the Oct. 7 voter registration deadline for Indiana residents, the Indiana Bar Foundation is seeking out new ways to engage young Hoosiers in the democratic process.

The Indiana Kids Election kicked off in 2022 as a pilot program, but this year, the program is available to K-12 students in all districts across the state.

Though any student can participate, middle and high school students are the main target, said Chuck Dunlap, president and CEO of the Indiana Bar Foundation.

The overarching goal of the program is to help students understand the voting process. The foundation’s approach is a nonpartisan way to teach students about democracy and civic engagement early on, Dunlap said.

“The earlier you start doing that and building that understanding and that expectation that, ‘well of course I’m going to vote’ the more that it is a continued practice during that person’s professional career into adulthood,” he said.

The program is divided into lesson plans that cover topics like voting rights, voting barriers, the Electoral College, and more, all created by teachers, for teachers.

During the lessons, students can learn how to research candidates and how to vote using mock ballots featuring actual candidates.

The results from the submitted ballots will be revealed around the time registered voters get results from Election Day, Dunlap said.

The program’s schedule is flexible, depending on class schedules at individual schools. For high school students, the program is typically taught during the students’ government classes, which fit into existing educational requirements under Indiana statute.

But the program can also be implemented in homeroom or career prep classes. Right now, around 3,500 students are signed up across the state, Dunlap said.

Encouraging seniors to register to vote

The program’s biggest goal is to encourage high school seniors who are 18 to register to vote in the upcoming election.

Stacy Nolan, a teacher at Greenwood Christian Academy, has the same goal for the seniors she teaches in her government class.

Her approach to the program is unique: her students will be the ones to use the lesson plans to teach younger students in the school about voting.

“On Election Day, we’ll actually run a mock poll at both campuses, so that way, my seniors will be the ones kind of running that to allow the kids to vote,” Nolan said. “I just feel like kids, anybody really, understands things better when they have to teach it.”

Nolan works to ensure her students understand that what they say and do matters, and that their voices are heard, especially in an election.

To encourage students to register to vote, Nolan sends out a link to her students once they turn 18 with information on how to register.

On National Voter Registration Day, she brought in a former student who now works for an organization supporting students’ civic engagement to help them register as well.

Ultimately, Nolan isn’t pushing her students to vote for a certain candidate, or even to vote at all, but that voting is an effective way to engage with their communities, and that that engagement makes a difference.

“My goal is by the time the kids leave my class, they are able to feel confident enough that their vote matters, what they do matters, and there’s an effect that the community feels,” she said.

While teachers can implement the bar foundation’s program year-round, emphasis is on educating students before the state’s voter registration deadline next month, Dunlap said.

“Our big picture is that this program will be the sort of front door for every high school senior to register to vote in Indiana,” he said.

The bar foundation wants to support a new wave of voters that will increase civic engagement statewide.

Increasing civic participation in the state

In tandem with getting people registered to vote, the Indiana Bar Foundation wants to increase civic engagement in students that will turn into habits as adults.

Recent bar foundation data shows the state needs this boost.

According to the 2023 Indiana Civic Health Index, Indiana ranked 50 out of 51 jurisdictions for civic participation during the 2022 midterm election. This ranking reflects the states’ voting participation and voting registration turnout for that election.

Indiana saw a 41.9% voter turnout for the 2022 election, 7.4% lower than the turnout for the 2018 election, where the state saw 49.3% voter participation.

By comparison, the United States saw a 52.2% voter turnout in 2022 compared to a 53.4% turnout in 2018.

In states where turnout is significantly higher, certain policies are in place that researchers believe influence these numbers positively, including if a state has same-day voter registration, unrestricted absentee voting, and voting hours that exceed 12 hours.

Indiana doesn’t offer any of these options.

A voter’s financial situation can also be an indication of their likelihood of making it to the polls, said Matthew Baggetta, an associate professor at the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

“People who have more of a financial cushion or have the kinds of jobs that give them the ability to take time off to go vote will be more likely to successfully do so,” Baggetta said.

A person’s community also has an influence on whether they choose to vote.

Baggetta, who currently co-directs the Observing Civil Engagement project, which looks at how people interact in civil society organizations, said their research shows that people who are regularly engaged in civic organizations are more likely to consistently vote.

And these organizations aren’t necessarily political.

“It can include things like churches or hobby clubs or advocacy organizations, business associations, you name it, there’s a club out there or an organization for it,” he said.

While these organizations may encourage its members to vote, simply having a connection with others can be enough to move the needle.

Dunlap said he is encouraged by supporters of the civic engagement program.

The foundation has partnered with the Lilly Corporate Foundation and area law firms to spread the word on the program.•