Opelika students choose Obama

OHS English teacher Allison Lee explains the voting process to OHS freshman Tommy Davis during Opelika High's mock election Tuesday. With 56 percent of the student body voting, Barack Obama won the OHS election with 67 percent of the vote, while the faculty, with 70 percent voting, favored McCain with a similar 67 percent vote.

By: Donathan Prater Staff Writer | Opelika Auburn News
Published: October 30, 2008

Some Opelika students got an early start finding their voting voices with mock elections of their own this week.

Tuesday, the Opelika High School campus was adorned with campaign signs with images of the candidates and their stances on the issues. Students stopped by tables designated by grade and voted using Scantron ballots.

Students voted during their 25-minute lunch break — a small sacrifice, according to OHS senior Chico Canady, 17.

“People in Iraq risk their lives to vote, so I don’t mind taking a few minutes out of my day to do the same,” said Canady. “The right to vote is something I feel too many people take lightly.”

OHS senior Christian Woodall, 17, agreed.

“Voting is a right people have died to give us and is the one way citizens directly communicate with their government,” said Woodall.

Teachers and faculty also participated in OHS’s mock vote. Their votes were tallied separately.

“The whole point behind this mock election is to make sure students know who the candidates are and what they stand for,” said Jamie East, coordinator of OHS’ mock election and a 12th-grade government and economics teacher.

When the votes were counted, nearly 70 percent of OHS faculty voted for McCain, while more than 60 percent of students voted for Obama.

A similar scene played out on Wednesday at Jeter Primary.

Students voted after presenting their voter registration cards, which were created in an earlier class activity, said Diana Gibbs, a reading teacher at Jeter Primary and election coordinator for the school’s mock election.

While the term recess probably makes a lot more sense to 5- to 8-year-olds than a word like recession, Gibbs said the next generation of voters are hearing what’s going on around them.

“They’re listening to their parents, watching TV and asking a lot of questions,” Gibbs said. “I’m excited to see the children excited about being able to vote.”
Of the 300 votes tallied at Jeter Primary, 163 voted for Obama, while 137 voted for McCain.