Today, 50% of young people grow up in non-voting households. Only about half of eligible voters participate in Presidential elections and about one-third participate in local elections. The figures are even lower for communities of color and young adults.
The Kids Voting Minnesota Network is a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition working to help students statewide learn about the right to vote, democracy, civic responsibility, and the importance of participation in the political process.
The Kids Voting program offers four unique benefits:
- An authentic voting experience where students in kindergarden through 12th grade cast their vote on Election Day at a centralized “polling place” in their school building.
- Student ballots that mirror the actual ballot in each community so students and the adults in their life will be voting for the same offices.
- Resources for educators to help create meaningful lessons and classroom discussions around key civic concepts. In addition, we provide ballot boxes, privacy screens and “I Voted” stickers.
- Access to ballot-counting machines so that it’s easy to tally and report on the results when the election is over.
CLICK HERE to sign up to receive more information and the free resources needed to run an election this fall!