Students participate in mock election

The Washington state 2016 mock election brought out 38,528 students, 320 short of the all-time record set in 2012. Students had the opportunity prior to the General Election to vote on the same issues adult voters would be voting on.

According to a state news release, of the total votes cast, 33,104 were cast by sixth through 12th grade students, while students in kindergarten through fifth grades cast 5,424 votes.

Statewide, nearly 50 percent of students favored Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton for president, with 30 percent favoring Republican Donald Trump. Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson took 8.2 percent, and Jill Stein of the Green Party gathered 5.6 percent.

In Whitman County, a slightly different picture was painted in regard to the presidential election. The report said 23 students voted in the first six grades, and 80 in the last six grades participated

Clinton still commanded the top spot, but at 41 percent, while Trump came in with 33 percent. Stein came in at 10 percent and Johnson fell at 7.3 percent.

In the Senate race, Democratic incumbent Patty Murray led at 63 percent to Republican challenger Chris Vance at 37 percent in statewide results, while at the county level, Murray took 60 percent and Vance had 40 percent. The race for governor saw Democratic incumbent Jay Inslee taking 57 percent of the statewide and 49 percent in the county, while Republican challenger Bill Bryant took 43 percent statewide and 51 percent in the county.

The students also had the opportunity to vote on statewide initiatives. The students voted to approve the minimum wage initiative (I-433), the initiative to restrict firearms (I-1491) and the petition to overturn the Citizens United ruling of Supreme Court (I-735).

In response to the wide turnout of student voters, Jackie Wheeler of the state elections division issued a statement expressing the importance of educating students about the voting process.

“We are very pleased that so many students took part in the mock election last week,” she said. “We're glad so many students had a chance to experience what voting is like, and we hope they'll register when they are old enough and then consistently vote in our elections.”