Gubernatorial Candidate Jim Douglas and Lieutenant Gubernatorial
Candidate Brian Dubie were the students' choices in this year’s Kids
Voting Vermont election. Jim Douglas was the favorite for governor,
receiving approximately 32% of the student’s vote. Doug Racine received
29%, Con Hogan 10% and 29% were divided among the remaining candidates.
In the lieutenant governor’s race Brian Dubie won with 46% of the vote.
Peter Shumlin received 22% with Anthony Pollina close behind with 21% of
the vote. Grassroots candidate, Sally Jones picked up nearly 10% of the
vote. In the other statewide races, the students picked Jeb Spaulding
for Treasurer, Deb Markowitz for Secretary of State, Elizabeth Ready for
Auditor and Bill Sorrell for Attorney General. Bernie Sanders was also
the student’s choice with 50% of the vote, compared to 28% for Bill
Meub.
This year over 130 Vermont schools participated in Kids Voting
Activities with thousands of students casting mock ballots. A
centerpiece of this year’s Kids Voting program was Democracy in
Action, a six week Newspaper in Education Series on voting and
democracy which was used in classrooms across Vermont.. Democracy in
Action was developed by Kids Voting in partnership with the
Burlington Free Press. Through Kids Voting students participated in
classroom lessons that included mock elections, monitoring election
results, researching candidates and "registering" to vote for the
election. Students then went to their local polling places to vote or
cast a ballot in their classroom.
Kids Voting Vermont is a non-profit, non-partisan organization
designed to increase voter turnout and create a better-informed
electorate. Kids Voting Vermont is part of Kids Voting USA, a national
organization founded in 1990 that operates in forty other states. Both
the state and national organizations facilitate partnerships among
families, schools, election officials, and community leaders in an
effort to secure the future of democracy by involving youth in the
election process today.
Kids Voting Vermont is led by a volunteer Board of Directors that
includes members of the business community, members of the media,
educators, students, activists, and city/town clerks. Funded in large
part by private sector contributions, Kids Voting Vermont counts among
its sponsors the Lintilhac Foundation, National Life, Ben and Jerrys,
Bell Atlantic, GMP, KPMG and CVPS.
For more information about Kids Voting Vermont visit
www.sec.state.vt.us.
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