The Voice of the Loy Norrix Community

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The Voice of the Loy Norrix Community

Knight Life

The Voice of the Loy Norrix Community

Knight Life

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The League of Women Voters Inform the Upperclassmen of the Kalamazoo Public School District How to Participate Politically

Superintendent Dr. Rice confirms the Kalamazoo Public Schools Mock Election Results.

by Jovaughn Carver and Jay Mcintosh

Obama wins election in a landslide.

According to the Loy Norrix mock election held on October 23rd in the back gym of the school. Obama won the United States Presidency by receiving 81.4 percent of the votes, while Romney only won 14.3 percent.

“It was efficient, they made it easy for us to vote,” said junior Jillian Ko on how the League of Women Voters (LWV) set up the mock election.

LWV held a mock election with the juniors and seniors in the Kalamazoo Public School district’s high schools, Kalamazoo Central, Loy Norrix, and Phoenix. The voter turnout was outstanding. There were 340 students who participated in the mock election at Loy Norrix, out of the 990 total upperclassmen student population.

Kalamazoo Public Schools decided to have the mock election to give an opportunity to high school students a chance to see how an actual election takes place. This was very beneficial for the seniors who are 18 and registered to vote and at the same time the LWV helped those students get registered and ready to vote if they weren’t already.

Georgiann Mcwilliams of the LWV said, “Students came up to me saying, ‘this is hard.’ The mock election showed students what the real election is like and what to expect.”            Georgiann McWilliams, Paula Aldridge, and Jennie Hill all part of the LWV gave their opinions on the mock election at the press conference at the administration building on October 26.

“Don’t sign for anything you haven’t read, don’t vote for anything you haven’t read,” preached McWilliams.

The League of Women Voter’s main focus of the mock election was on helping students understand the voting process and to hopefully pass their new knowledge to their families. The League of Women Voters strives to have students learn from their mistakes now instead of when they are voting in a real election.

Learning the process of the election, and informing the students on the separate political parties and their opposing beliefs was a concern for Dr. Michael F. Rice prior to the mock election.

“Anytime young people began to tune into what’s going on it helps. I wasn’t overly surprised by the results, but the actual results were less important than the process…[what mattered] was young people getting involved,” said Dr. Rice.

However, many found the mock elections to have some beneficial qualities, there were some students who left feeling as though it was a waste of time.

“No one took it seriously,” said senior Alexis Romph. “[The mock election] was nothing like the real thing,” referring to an actual presidential election.

The mock election, to most, was a success because it got the students involved, it educated the students on the process of an election, and it made students aware that voting does actually make a difference.

Results from the mock election:

Presidential:

  • Barack Obama (DEM)- 81.4 %
  • Mitt Romney (REP)- 14.3 %
  • Jill Stein (GRN)- 3.2 %
  • Virgil H Good Jr. (UST)- 0.0034 %
  • Ross C Anderson (NLP)- 0.0079 %

Senator:

  • Pete Hoekstra (REP)- 22.5 %
  • Debbie Stabenow (DEM)- 59.9 %
  • Scotty Boman (LIB)- 8.4 %
  • Richard A Matikin (UST)- 3.1 %
  • Harley Mikkelson (GRN)- 3.3 %
  • John D Litle (NLP)- 2.8 %

Proposal 1

Invokes the right of referendum for the Emergency Financial Manager Law.

Yes- 51.2 %

No- 48.8 %

Proposal 2

Protects the right of the people in Michigan to form unions and bargain collectively along with employers regarding conditions of employment.

Yes- 52.6 %

No- 47.4 %

Proposal 3

Require Michigan Utilities to Use Renewable Energy

Yes- 67 %

No- 33 %

Proposal 4

Citizens for Affordable Quality Home Care would amend the Michigan Constitution through Prop-4 to establish the Michigan Quality Home Council, provide certain information to consumers, require training of providers, and provide limited collective bargaining.

Yes- 63.5 %

No- 36.5 %

Proposal 5

The Michigan Alliance for Prosperity would amend the Michigan Constitution through Prop-5 to prohibit the imposition of new or additional taxes or expansion of the base of taxation by the State of Michigan unless approved by 2/3 majority of members in each chamber of the legislature or by a statewide vote of the people.

Yes- 56.3 %

No- 43.7 %

Proposal 6

The People Should Decide would amend the Michigan Constitution through Prop-6 to require a vote of the people before the State of Michigan can construct or finance new international bridges or tunnels for motor vehicles.

Yes- 44.9 %

No- 55.1 %

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The Voice of the Loy Norrix Community
The League of Women Voters Inform the Upperclassmen of the Kalamazoo Public School District How to Participate Politically