Mock election in Latah County allows students to get familiar with the voting process

MOSCOW — The next generation of voters got a taste of what it’s like to participate in democracy thanks to a mock election for Latah County high school students.

Moscow students went to the 1912 Center to cast their votes while the rest of Latah County’s public school students filled out ballots in their respective school buildings.

The event was organized by the League of Women Voters of Moscow “to familiarize students with the voting process,” said LWV member Sue Ripley.

The results may not officially count, but Ripley hopes the experience will encourage them to vote when they are old enough.

“That’s a demographic that is not strong at the polls and I’d love to see that demographic strong at the polls,” Ripley said.

Moscow High School ninth grader Mason Attebury called the experience “pretty fun, honestly” and said he was happy to have this experience before he participates in the real thing.

“I just liked learning about how to vote because I always hate going into something and not knowing how to do it,” he said.

His social studies teacher Alex Greig said this event was great timing for his students, who are learning about the importance of voting through history lessons on the American and French revolutions.

Greig said the mock election gets his students comfortable with the voting steps. He brought 140 of his students to the event, and he hopes they understand that anyone who is eligible to vote should vote.

“It makes me happy to see them doing this,” he said.

Ripley spoke to the students about what to expect, including how precincts work and where they can vote. The students then received their ballots from LWV volunteers, sat at makeshift voting booths and filled out their ballots.

The ballots were sent to another room at the 1912 Center where another group of volunteers began counting them. Results will be posted on the LWV website and Facebook page.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.