Fact Sheet
The National Student/Parent Mock Election

What is the National Student/Parent Mock Election?

• It is the nation's largest civic education program and the world’s largest national mock election. Its mission is to motivate young people to seize the day, to cast votes for candidates who most inspire them while learning to cast real votes in real elections when they reach voting age.

• In 2008, over 5 million votes were cast at 15,000 schools in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and in American schools around the world. That was at least 4 million more votes than were cast in any other voter-education project.

• Participants include kindergartners, elementary, secondary school as well as some college students. Since the Mock Election began in 1980, over 50 million young voters, and often their parents as well, have learned the importance of voting and what it means to be an American.

• More states consistently partner with the National Student/Parent Mock Election than with any other project.

• Our partners for 2008 provided over $7 million worth of curriculum materials, e-blasts, publicity, Web design and broadcast time for the Mock Election and the nation's schools. They also provided unprecedented opportunities for educating students about the electoral process and new voting systems as well as encouraging civic engagement.

• 2008 partners:

• Google

• Pearson

• The National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation

• Strong American Schools

• USA Today

• School Perceptions

• Declare Yourself

• BrainPOP

• The National Association of Secretaries of State

• The National PTA

• The National School Boards Association

• The National Council for the Social Studies

• The American Association of School Administrators

• The Council of the Great City Schools

• The National Association of Elementary School Principals

• The National Association of Secondary School Principals

• The National Association of Student Councils

• Sixty national educational, civic, business and religious organizations cooperate with the project including the National Association of State Boards of Education, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the League of Women Voters of the United States. See the full list at www.nationalmockelection.org/why_supporters.html. They have an aggregate membership of over 100 million Americans.

• Outstanding Mock Election projects nominated at the school, school district and state level receive awards from the National Association of State Boards of Education, the American Association of School Administrators, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Association of Student Councils, and the League of Women Voters of the U.S.

What are the National Student/Parent Mock Election's plans for 2009/2010?

The governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia:

Two states, New Jersey and Virginia, will have gubernatorial elections in 2009. The National Student/Parent Mock Election will run Mock Elections in both.

Visits from the Declaration of Independence:

Six states have won awards from Pearson and Declare Yourself of a loan of a rare original copy of the Declaration of Independence for their outstanding Mock Election projects. The rare copy's first visit to New Jersey on June 24th can be seen on our YouTube site at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNqfChy6_ds&feature=channel. It will be followed by Austin, TX (see Austin ISD Web site at www.austinisd.org), Florida , Illinois, and California. In each case, the entire community will be invited to see the rare copy and participate in a celebration of democracy. A map and video of the tour will be placed on the National Student/Parent Mock Election Web site.

The Democracy Forum

A pilot Democracy Forum will be held in Tucson, AZ on October 30, 2010, hopefully to be followed by others across the country. 

The 2010 congressional and gubernatorial elections:

All members of the U.S. House of Representatives, a third of the U.S. Senate and 39 governors will be up for election in 2010. The National Student/Parent Mock Election hopes to teach America's future voters the power of participation not just in presidential elections but in the elections that make "government of the people, by the people and for the people" a reality.  Mock Election Day will be October 28, 2010.

Why is the National Student/Parent Mock Election important to America?

• The Goldwater Institute found high school graduates unable to pass a citizenship test. The vast majority of graduates could not name the author of the Declaration of Independence or the first President of the United States. Most graduates did not know how long the term of a U.S. senator is. Most graduates could not identify the Bill of Rights, could not name the two major political parties or tell how many justices comprise the U.S. Supreme Court.

• The Intercollegiate Studies Institute found adults are as ignorant of some of the basic facts about our democracy as the children. The vast majority could not recognize the language of Lincoln's Gettysburg address and less than half could name the three branches of government. Only 53% knew the power to declare war belongs to the Congress. Only 27% know the Bill of Rights prohibits establishing an official religion in the United States. Thirty percent of elected officials did not know that "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" are the inalienable rights referred to in the Declaration of Independence.

• Eighty-eight percent of Americans wanted their children taught about elections, democracy and ethical behavior starting in elementary school and continuing through high school, according to a July 2008 survey by Leo J. Shapiro & Associates Marketing in Chicago for the Mock Election. Elections and democracy are central to what the Mock Election stands for.

• An evaluation of the National Student/Parent Mock Election by the University of Colorado found that participants learned to make political decisions, they learned the importance of voting and being informed on current issues, they learned that social studies classes are relevant, and they were motivated to discuss political and election topics with parents. Most importantly, participation in the National Student/Parent Mock Election overcame their sense of powerlessness.

• The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) points out that "initial mobilization produces repeat voters. If people have been motivated to get to the polls once, they are more likely to return." So, getting young people to vote early in their lives is the key to inspiring a new generation of voters.

Past Participants have this to say:

In Pennsylvania, Mary Beth Nanna, then in Grade 7, wrote, "One day in September in Mrs. Raptosh's class, we were talking about voting and the importance of it. I raised my hand and confessed that my parents didn't vote. Mrs. Raptosh told me that I should convince them to register and vote. She explained that every vote counted, and one vote could make a difference. When I thought about it, I realized that they should vote, because people fought and died for a right that so many people today take for granted. So I went home and told them about my day. I didn't think they would take me seriously, and at first, they didn't. They just said no. Mrs. Raptosh encouraged me to keep trying, and I did. After about a month I proved my point and they registered... [and] they voted for the first time. Now I will see to it that they vote in every election, and I will, too, when I'm old enough. I can now say that my parents vote, and be proud of it."

Utah's Desert News carried this story, Friday, November 3, 2000, written by Dainon Moody:

"For at least a handful of students, this Mock Election took on almost as much meaning as the real deal. For Kellie Mudrow's third-grade class at Lincoln Elementary in Layton, several of her students hail from outside the United States — Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Mexico — and are not yet citizens. Result? Their families are very excited for their children to get to vote, since they can't do so yet.

"Their families aren't going to get the opportunity to vote at all, so I think (the students) felt like they were going to vote for their families," Mudrow said. "Some others are excited to have an adult-type political experience, but for these kids, it's an opportunity for them to feel like they're real Americans.

"Some were even given copies of the ballots used in the election on request of their parents, who wanted to see what one looked like. One little boy who speaks almost no English was proud to announce he knew which presidential candidate he was going to vote for.

"When he walked out of the booth, he was glowing. He ... just kept saying, 'Tell my mama, tell my mama.'

Who can you contact about the National Student/Parent Mock Election?

Gloria Kirshner, President
P. O. Box 36653
Tucson, Arizona 85740
E-mail: nspme@aol.com
Fax: 520.742.3553
Phone: 520.877.VOTE to enroll

Also enroll on the web at: http://www.nationalmockelection.org

See current activities at:

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Twitter: http://twitter.com/NSPME

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/mockelection