Bolingbrook High School Students Vote for U.S. President

Thousands of Bolingbrook High School students voted Tuesday in its mock presidential election Tuesday. 

Students voted with their Social Studies classes. Those not in a Social Studies class or who were unable to vote could submit absentee ballots or vote before or after school. 

Students stood in polling booths to complete their ballots. National Honor Society students hand-counted ballots. Some write-in votes included "Batman" or "Big Bird." 

But the ballot didn't have candidates' names on it, only Candidate A (i.e. Libertarian Gary Johnson), Candidate B (Barack Obama) and Candidate C (Mitt Romney). 

"We wanted the students to get involved in politics," said Kristin Sarama, who teachers freshman history and heads up this year's mock election committee. "We wanted them to do the research based on beliefs, not whether or not they know the name." 

Some students were unaware that there was a third party candidate on the ballot, Sarama said, and in the school's last mock election, students said they voted because they had heard a name. 

Before the mock election, Social Studies teachers reviewed the platforms of each candidate with their students. Six main issues were reviewed: economy, health care, education, personal liberty, personal equality and the role of the U.S. military.

Posters were hung around school to advertise each candidate. Each polling booth also contained a candidate pamphlet describing the platforms. 

Full results are expected to be tallied by Friday. 

Four years ago with a heavy turnout of roughly 3,200 voters, students voted overwhelmingly for Barrack Obama.

“I think the kids will wind up voting for President Obama again this year because it is a highly Democratic student population here,” Sarama surmised.

“But it’ll be tricky. I think we may have a higher percentage of votes for the Libertarian candidate (Gary Johnson) than you would think."

National Honor Society students manning the registration tables said they considered different factors in their decision for president. 

"I don't agree with foreign intervention," said BHS senior Nicholas Serhan, who voted for Candidate A (Gary Johnson). 

"I don't believe raising the taxes of the wealthy just because they have more money than others," said BHS senior Alexandra Schwartz, who voted for Candidate C (Mitt Romney). 

BHS junior Brian Parro voted for Candidate C because of the candidate's economic plan. BHS junior Marianne Edquiban based her decision on social issues and voted for Candidate B (Barack Obama). 

The ballots, color-coded so results will be tabulated for each of the four grade levels, also contained the question “Who do you think will win the election?”

Editor's note: This article includes information from a Valley View School District 365U. 

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