Youngsters Cast Their Own Ballots

FRUITVALE—Voters waited patiently in line, election judges verified names and handed out ballots while others assisted voters in getting to and from the polling area.

However, this scene on Election Day was not at one of Van Zandt County’s voting precinct locations.

It was at Hallie Randall Elementary School in Fruitvale.

The school held a mock election Tuesday for its first grade through fifth grade students and, by all accounts, the process went very smoothly.

Ann Smith, a fifth grade teacher at the school, said the planning for this day started in early October.

"Each child was provided lessons about the voting process. They found fun facts about each of the candidates, and we made sure the students were registered," Smith said.

The fifth grade students were given charge of creating campaign posters, which had to be bipartisan.

"They had to do a poster for both (presidential) candidates. It turned out to be a scavenger hunt of sorts for information on both candidates," Smith said.

The oldest of Hallie Randall Elementary’s current students will have to wait until 2016 before they can cast an actual election ballot, but that fact did nothing to damper the excitement of Election Day this year.

"Some of them could hardly wait for the day to get here," Smith said. "We did this because we wanted to make them aware of how important it is to vote. It’s a privilege and a right."

Even the fifth graders who had to work in the mock election enjoyed the scene Tuesday.

"I’ve had fun today," said election judge MaKayla Bain.

Seated next to her was another election judge, Felisha Hickman. "It has been a very interesting experience," she said.

A third election judge, Gage Sulc, said there was very little confusion.

"Actually, the younger kids were a lot smarter about what they were supposed to do than I thought they might be," he said.