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Loudon officials propose pilot 'Kids Vote' program with elementary school participation
Summary
Town election officials asked the selectmen to allow a low-cost pilot that would let Loudon students cast mock ballots on a local issue to teach the voting process and to encourage voter turnout among families.
Loudon election officials told the Board of Selectmen they want to pilot a "Kids Vote" program that would let students at Loudon Elementary School cast mock ballots on a local question to learn the voting process and help increase turnout among adults.
Janice Moore, assistant moderator, said the program is intended as an educational opportunity that varies by grade — for example younger students might pick a playground color while older students could vote on a school or town naming question. "Kids vote is an educational opportunity for the kids to be part of the America's voting process with their own special topics that vary from grades to grades," Moore said.
The program would be run in partnership with the town clerk's office and the Secretary of State's elections office. Doug Bruno, legal counsel in the Secretary of State's office who identified himself as a Loudon resident, told the board the office is "very excited about this potential project" and said Loudon has been a reliable partner on election initiatives. "There really is no municipality in the state that has more involvement with our office in a good way," Bruno said.
School principal Dave Bartlett has told Moore and town staff he supports the concept, Moore said. The plan under discussion would let students check in, receive a ballot, and deposit it in a ballot box at a school event modeled on the town's polling process; some high-school students would serve as moderators or ballot clerks to demonstrate the process.
Moore said the town and school want to keep costs minimal. She said the only likely expenses would be small items such as producing a sign if the ballot item required naming a facility. Moore estimated there are "maybe 300 kids in the school," which would determine the number of ballots to print; she told the board the town prints its own ballots and expects that printing would be a modest cost.
Officials said Barrington previously ran a similar pilot and reported higher turnout among adults when children participated. Moore said the school staff will convene and return to the selectmen with ideas and a proposal by November so the town can decide whether to put a kids' question on a future election ballot.
The Board of Selectmen gave the organizers their general support at the meeting; no formal vote or policy change was taken.
