Your Country Needs Your Vote

The Kids Voting initiative gives school students an authentic election experience - voting in a real election with real candidates on a real ballot paper - and the chance to compare the results with the results in the real thing.

The Kids Voting programme is designed to raise awareness about New Zealand's electoral processes. In New Zealand the turnout of voters at elections is falling, as it is in most democratic countries.
Building first-hand experience of active participation aims to increase your personal understanding of elections, and your belief and confidence in taking part. And it demonstrates the importance of keeping your contact and address details up to date, so you're ready to vote when an election comes around.
Schools that choose to take part in the programme are provided with a replica of the real ballot paper that is issued to adult electors in the same area. This way, your teachers can conduct an election in the week prior to the real election, following the same processes. School results are sent to a national Kids Voting coordinator, who then provides reports on the results of the election.
Kids Voting has also been developed to fit in with the social studies curriculum for Year Nine.

Success so far
The Kids Voting programme was developed in the United States in the late 1990s. Students were encouraged to go with their parents or guardians to the polling booths on election day. Students voted for the same candidates but, of course, because these voters were underage their votes weren't counted.
In New Zealand, Kids Voting is a bit smarter because it's more interactive. The programme was introduced in 2000 by Auckland City Council as part of ‘Political Awareness in Schools'. This covered the role of local government and citizens, local government services and how to participate in shaping the future of your community. A trial took place in 2001 for the local government elections. Then over 8000 students from 83 schools across New Zealand participated in the first national Kids Voting elections, which were held with the local government elections in 2007. Feedback from everyone involved shows it was a success.

Every vote counts
You can conduct a Kids Voting election with your class for the parliamentary elections in 2008. If your school elects to take part, you will receive exact replicas of the ballot papers that adults in your area would receive, so you can conduct an election in the week prior to the actual vote. You will also get a ballot box and background information to enhance the experience and learning outcomes. All materials are free.
So, if you'd like your school or council to take part in Kids Voting 2008, ask your teacher to check out the Kids Voting website and visit the registration page:
www.kidsvoting.org.nz/registration.

What do you think?
Is Kids Voting a good idea? Did you know there will be Parliamentary Elections this year? Are you following the lead-up to the Election on the news and in the papers? What could be done to make elections and voting more interesting to you? Email us and let us know your thoughts and suggestions: heyyouguys@actv8.co.nz.