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The Indiana Bar Foundation’s Indiana Kids Election expanded statewide this year, with results from the program reflecting what soon-to-be voters hoped to see from this year’s election.
The mock vote mostly reflected the actual statewide outcome of the Nov. 5 election, with one surprise.
Unlike the state’s registered voters, students from 165 schools across the state narrowly favored Democrat Jennifer McCormick over Republican Mike Braun, with Libertarian Donald Rainwater notching a substantial portion of the vote.
In the mock election McCormick was favored by 44.2% of the more than 18,000 students who participated. Braun netted 43.5% of the vote, with Rainwater landing 12.2%
In the actual election, Braun topped McCormick, 54% to 41%.
“We are incredibly pleased with the enthusiasm from schools, teachers, and students across the state,” said Charles Dunlap, President and CEO of the Indiana Bar Foundation. “With more than 200 educators registering, the success of this year’s Indiana Kids Election shows how committed our schools are to preparing young people for active citizenship.”
The program, which is available to all students in the state, is aimed at middle and high school students who are quickly approaching the age at which they can vote in actual elections.
The goal of the kids election is to teach students about democracy and civic engagement in a nonpartisan way, Dunlap told the Indiana Lawyer in September.
“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.
In other races, winners of the mock election mirrored the actual results, though sometimes by narrower margins.
In the kids’ vote for state attorney general election, Republican Todd Rokita earned 50.4% of the student vote compared with Democrat Destiny Wells’ 49.6%.
In the race for U.S. Senate, Jim Banks landed 52.4% of the kid vote to Valerie McCray’s 33.9%.
The U.S. presidential race also saw an overwhelming support for Republican candidate and president-elect Donald Trump, who earned 62.9% of young participants’ votes, while Democrat Kamala Harris landed 30.1%.
The Indiana Bar Foundation offers free, comprehensive K-12 lesson plans through the Indiana Kids Election program, including an online voting simulation to replicate the voting experience. These lesson plans are created by teachers in the Hoosier state.
The program is funded by the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation.
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