Homecoming week an opportunity for voter education at EHS
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Friday, September 28, 2007
A joint project of the Lyon County clerk’s office and the League of Women Voters of Emporia gives Emporia High School students a real-life voting experience during homecoming week.
One of the traditions of homecoming is for students to select a homecoming king and queen. EHS students cast their ballots for the candidates Tuesday with the same electronic voting machines used in local, state and national elections. The results of the election will be announced tonight before the EHS-Shawnee Heights football game. Homecoming candidates are: Samantha Kraft, Kylie Miller, Michaela Reynolds, Whitney Starr, Sarah Watkins, Brenn Fisher, David Hrabic, Troy Pierce, Eric Reimer and Mike Robinson.
Steve Turner, an EHS assistant principal, said the Lyon County clerk’s office has brought the machines to the high school for Homecoming and Winter Sports voting for several years. League of Women Voters volunteers serve as election poll workers and ensure the students have an authentic voting experience.
Turner said the partnership with the county clerk ’s office and the league helps with voter education and expedites the ballot-counting process for high school staff.
“We want them to have the experience of voting and get used to the machine. We hope it takes away some of the anxiety of voting,” Turner said. “It also frees up a lot of secretarial time that used to be required when we had to count paper ballots.”
Marshall Havenhill, a LWV member and volunteer at EHS, said league research has found that many adults are intimidated by the voting process and he hopes this project makes lifetime voters out of the students.
“This is exactly the same process they would encounter in a regular election,” Havenhill said. “We have the voter list, students must show their IDs to prove they are eligible to vote and they get a card that operates the machine. The card activates the ballot on the touch-screen machine and they get prompts for how to cast their vote.”
The machines tabulate the vote and the election workers compare the voting tally against the number of voters on their lists. The machine is sealed and the results are provided electronically.
League President Jacque Heckman James said voter education and increased voter participation are goals of the League of Women Voters. Other league members helping with the EHS vote on Tuesday were: Marty Hager, Aloha Preston, Tracey Graham, Belle Grimsley, Ann Havenhill, and Gail and George Milton.
More information about the league is available online a www.emporia.lwv.org or from James at 343-1211 or Ann Havenhill, 342-7944.