By Vicki Prichard
NKyTribune reporter
Channel One News, a Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company which provides daily news to millions of students and teachers in schools across the U.S., announced Hillary Clinton the winner of OneVote 2016, Channel One News’ mock election for students in upper elementary, middle, and high schools across the country.
Nationwide, Clinton won 47 percent of the popular vote and 365 out of 538 Electoral College votes as well as key swing states including Arizona, Florida, and North Carolina.
Donald Trump won 41 percent of the popular vote and 173 Electoral College votes, while “other” candidates, including Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, won 12 percent.
Being interviewed by Channel One
The election played out differently in Kentucky, where Trump won with 51 percent of the popular vote, Clinton with 35 percent, and “other” candidates 13 percent.
“If our students were voting today, they would have elected the first female president of the United States. That is a historic occasion that cannot be ignored, even if having a woman president is seen by our young people as a natural event,” says Angela Hunger, senior vice president and executive producer at Channel One News.
Hunter says the campaign is evidence that students care about political issues as well as the tenor of political discourse in the country.
“They are deeply invested in the outcome of this election,” says Hunter.
Hillary Creedon, senior communications associate with Channel One, says they found that some schools were reluctant to talk about this election, because much of the candidate’s behavior and rhetoric would be considered bullying. In the end, she says they wound up with great participation because the students pushed their schools into holding the election so that they could have their voices heard.
Camp Ernst Middle School in Burlington was one of eleven schools across the Commonwealth to participate in the mock election. The school held its mock debate last week, with students taking on the roles of the candidates and presenting their platform.
Their mock debate was featured on Channel One News’ broadcast on Monday, and viewed by more than six million students across the country.
Kim Stamper, a sixth-grade teacher at Camp Ernst Middle School, who organized the school’s mock debate and election, says the candidate’s behavior was a recurring topic.
“The main subject that comes up glaringly in this election is the behavior,” says Stamper. “Being a sixth-grade teacher, acceptable behavior is an important part of what we teach, especially in regards to how we treat others. For the most part, students seem appalled that they know how to behave respectfully and these presidential candidates don’t.”
When the time came to debate and vote, Stamper says although some students were already convinced to vote for a particular candidate, many kept an open mind and decided for themselves.
In Camp Ernst’s debate there were four candidates: Richard Sewell as Donald Trump; Roz Townsend as Hillary Clinton; Macaylee Nelson as Jill Stein, and Caleb Brooks as Gary Johnson.
Click picture to view video
“We visited a website with 75 issues and the stands of the four candidates on each issues,” says Stamper. “Students made four columns and put a check mark under a candidate each time they agreed with their stand. At the end, they had a definitive list of who they should vote for.”
In addition to casting their votes for next president, the OneVote ballot asked students across the country about the political issue most important to them. Terrorism topped the list at 19 percent, with education at 12 percent, and gun control at 11 percent.
Since the program began in 1992, students have correctly predicted the next U.S. president in every OneVote poll, five out of five times. In the past, students have largely shown preference for the same candidate as their parents, but Creedon says they’ve noticed that Generation Z is forming their own opinions. Many of the issues they care about, she says, such as access to affordable education and addressing climate change, have not been a primary focus in the presidential election to date.
“Our mock election has accurately predicted the next president of the United States in every OneVote poll since the program began in 1992. In a few weeks, we will see if that record holds,” says Hunter.
Voting took place nationwide from October 17 –21. Nearly 300,000 votes were cast by students in grades four through 12 across all 50 states.
Hillary Clinton carried several swing states, including:
• Arizona: Clinton 53%, Trump 29%, Other 18%
• Colorado: Clinton 55%, Trump 33%, Other 11%
• Florida: Clinton 53%, Trump 35%, Other 12%
• Maine: Clinton 48.5%, Trump 37%, Other 14.5%
• Nevada: Clinton 65%, Trump 25%, Other 10%
• New Hampshire: Clinton 48.5%, Trump 38.5%, Other 13%
• North Carolina: Clinton 56%, Trump 35%, Other 9%
• Pennsylvania: Clinton 51%, Trump 40%, Other 9%
• Virginia: Clinton 45%, Trump 41%, Other 14%
Donald Trump carried:
• Georgia: Trump 47%, Clinton 39%, Other 14%
• Iowa: Trump 47%, Clinton 37%, Other 16%
• Michigan: Trump 44%, Clinton 43%, Other 13%
• Ohio: Trump 47%, Clinton 39%, Other 14%
