They may be under 18, so their vote isn’t officially tallied, but there are thousands of children from kindergarten to high school voting across Colorado today to express their views. Kids Voting is an organization that educates children that voting is important whether it is for president or for local issues. Their polling places in some cases, are side by side to their parents real voting booths.Kids Voting polling sites include 15 districts across Colorado including parts of Denver, Greeley, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Mesa County (Grand Junction area) and even smaller schools from Aspen to Parachute to Vail on the Western Slope and several smaller school systems on the Eastern Plains.
Although the original goal was to increase voter turnout once the students turned 18, surprisingly the voter turnout of their parents have also increased, according to the national Kids Voting organization.
The student ballots start very simple for the kindergarteners and then increase in complexity to where the high school students are voting on the same candidates and issues as their parents.
The program is non-partisan and both Republicans and Democrats work together to educate children about the electorate process. It is estimated that about 60% of students will vote in the school districts that have a Kids Voting program and possibly, it can increase the voting turnout in their parents by 1% to 3%.
Watch for an update on the results of Kids Voting across Colorado on Wednesday on Colorado Confidential.
