By Tolu Salako, BubbleLife Intern
On Nov. 6, 2012, while those of legal age were waiting at voting booths throughout the Dallas area, Coppell High School students voted in a mock election during their science classes in the lecture hall.
CHS's Student Council and the social studies department organized the event in order to make students, who are not old enough to vote, feel as if they have a say in who will govern their country for the next four years. With weeks of preparation, the voting process at the high school was a huge success.
“We have done many elections prior to this one, and many students seem to enjoy it,” CHS social studies teacher Blake Johnson said. ”It was a huge success, and many students enjoyed it.”
During the CHS Mock Presidential Election, an “I voted at CHS sticker” was given to participants, as well as refreshments. Students signed their names on a banner to show their participation in this election.
“I was happy with (Mitt Romney) winning (the CHS Mock Election),” CHS junior Eric Trevino said. “Hopefully the outcome will be the same in (the actual) election.”
Similar to the real election, votes were extremely close, however Barack Obama was reelected president in the actual election.
“I am not surprised that (Romney) won the (mock) election,” CHS junior Jasmin Hakeem said. “Coppell, and even Texas for that matter, is overall a predominately republican area and has been like that for a very long time.”
This mock election was very similar to the real world. For example, students had to register prior to the day in order to be eligible to vote.
“(The mock election setup) was really cool,” CHS senior Sharon Cho said. “I voted in the actual election, and the setup at (CHS) was very similar to the real thing.”
In the real election, unlike the CHS mock election, Barack Obama was reelected president of the United States. Many students were both shocked and pleased at the results.
“This election could have gone either way, and even though I wanted (Romney) to win, students still need to respect who is president,” CHS junior Rachel Gruebbel said.
The CHS mock election gave students who are not of legal age to vote a taste of what it is really like. In the next election in 2016, many of these students that voted in the mock election, will have the opportunity to truly have a say of who will be the next president of the United States.