Mock Elections Educate Underage Voters About the Importance of Democracy

Voter turnout has been steadily decreasing over the years, but Melissa Lieb is going to change all that.

Lieb is the Voter Services Co-Chair of the League of Women Voters of the La Grange Area, and she and fellow members of the league are traveling from school to school this fall setting up mock elections to expose teenagers to the democratic process, so that America's younger demographic feels the importance of participating in future elections.

“The earlier students are exposed to the voting process, the more likely they vote, as well as participate in democracy in the future,” she said. “Student enthusiasm not only to vote, but to be a part of the election process, encourages civic awareness and responsibility with their peers.”

Students at these high schools get excited about voting in the mock election, Lieb said, even though most of them won’t be able to vote this November, and that’s a compliment to their teachers and parents who instill in them the right and responsibility of voting.

On Nov. 3, just five days before the real presidential election, students at Lyons Township High School will have the option to take part in a mock election held by the League of Women Voters, complete with voting booths donated by the Cook County Clerk’s office and the options to vote in either the school’s libraries or cafeterias.

“It can be intimidating voting for the first time,” Lieb said. “They don’t know what to expect when checking in at their polling place, what a ballot looks like, or how to use it.”

By offering them the mock election experience with both real sample ballots and booths, the League of Women voters is giving high school students an educational and fun experience that will help them feel more comfortable in the future.

Prior to a mock election, the League of Women Voters provides the school with informational tools that can be distributed to students so they can research candidates and don’t go into the election blind. They want students to cast an educated vote, Lieb said.

She said the League of Women Voters’ goals in a mock election are simple: to give students the resources to research the election and political candidates, to teach them what to expect at a polling place and, most importantly, that their opinion counts.

“We want to inform students during this mock election that their voice matters,” Lieb said. “Their vote is their voice.”

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