Secretary of State makes pitch for Kids Voting Kansas
Students learn impacts of voting policies
Staff writer
Educators and others are interested in possible Marion County-wide participation in Kids Voting Kansas, after hearing a presentation by Ron Thornburgh Friday afternoon at the courthouse here.
Thornburgh, Kansas' secretary of state, has promoted the KVK program, part of Kids Voting USA, for several years. Its goal is to get young Kansans interested in government and current affairs — interested enough that they will register and vote when they are 18.
The Help America Vote Act is a big challenge for county clerks, he noted. Federal Election Reform in 1972 gave 18-year-olds the right to vote. In the November 1972 elections, half of them did vote.
It's been "all downhill" since then, i.e. fewer and fewer young people have been voting since that time.
Only about 15 percent of Americans, who are between the ages of 18 and 24, vote now, Thornburgh lamented.Therefore, 30 years from now, a 15- to 20-percent turnout from those now 18 to 24 is all that can be expected, he said.
"So, eight percent of the electorate (a majority of 15 percent) can elect a candidate," he said.
There is a three-week election period (when citizens may vote) rather than just one day, Election Day, he said. "We're holding steady against the decline (in numbers of voters)," Thornburgh told a group of about seven Friday.
"People think their vote doesn't matter
Convenience of registration and voting, surprisingly is not even a "top 10" issue for prospective voters, the secretary said.
"So we have to change societal and cultural standards."
In Kids Voting Kansas, students in kindergarten through grade 12 learn the impacts of voting policies. It's a six-week program, each school year, with a maximum of two hours per week.
KVK fits into the outcomes required by the Kansas Board of Education, Thornburgh said.
While the national average voter turnout is only 15 percent, with Kids Voting Kansas participants, it's 65 percent. And the adult turnout (by parents or guardians of the participants) also rises by 5 percent, he said.
"Forty-five percent of the parents say they are better educated about the issues and candidates" after their children take part in KVK, Thornburgh said.
An important part of the program is that kids go to the polls with their parents on Election Day. They, too, have to register. They have their own private booths for voting.
All students in K-8 would go with their parents on Election Day. Those in grades 9-12 do not have to do so.
"A key element of being 'cool' is avoiding your parents, at that age, we realize," Thornburgh said.
Also, there will be absentee ballots available for those students whose parents just cannot accompany them on Election Day.
The program costs 25 cents per student per year, he said. "We ask for a two-year contract." With about 690 students in Marion-Florence USD 408, the cost in this district would be less than $175, it appears.
Thornburgh suggested also that the community could be asked to kick in, if the expenditure were too hard on the district's budget.
The KVK curriculum is Web-based and can be downloaded. The program includes training of teachers.
If parents vote, kids will too, he said. They are also likely to vote the same way as their parents.
Kids Voting Kansas is a private, not-for-profit organization.
Thornburgh said he is a "cheerleader" for the program. "We'd like to see all Kansas schools doing this."
A Marion County task force is to be formed, and Emily Bradbury, KVK executive director, will meet later with that group.
County Clerk Carol Maggard offered to coordinate forming of the task force.
USD 408 Superintendent Gerry Henderson said, "The community needs to feel ownership in this, not just school people. School people should not coordinate it and should not be the driving factor behind it."
Thornburgh said ideally it should be an effort, one-half by the community and one-half by the schools.
It's a program to combat citizen apathy and non-participation in civic matters. Sherry Soyez said a similar program impacted her greatly when she was in the fifth grade. Because of that program and its effect on her, she always votes, she said.Back then, she knew more about the candidates than her parents did.
A second meeting will be announced later..
