What

Kids Voting USA

398 South Mill Avenue, Suite 304

Tempe, Arizona 85281

(602) 921-3727

www.kidsvotingusa.org

KVUSA Logo

A nonpartisan, nonprofit, grassroots institution, Kids Voting USA is a one-of-a-kind! In partnership with families, schools, elections officials and community leaders, kids visit official polls on election day to cast their own ballot, accompanied by a parent or guardian. The mission is profound and being accomplished: securing the American tradition of civic involvement and the responsibility of voting.

 

Founded:

 

 

Oct. 1, 1991 (Arizona pilot programs: 1988 & 1990) The idea for Kids Voting USA began in 1987 when three Arizona businessmen went to Costa Rica on a fishing trip and learned that country sees a 90 percent voter turnout. A tradition of youth visiting the polls with parents is credited.

 

Kids Voting USA

Leadership

Jack E. Brown, Esq., Chairman

Karen T. Scates, Presidents & CEO

 

Combats Voter Apathy

 

Kids Voting serves to:

- Create an informed electorate;

- Increase adult voter turnout;

- Develop lifetime voting habits in youth.

 

1994: Only 39 percent of the voting-age public cast ballots in the general election.

1996: Only 48.4 percent of the voting-age public cast ballots in the presidential election.

1996: Only 30 percent of those ages 18 - 24 voted.

1998: Only 37 percent of the voting-age public cast ballots in the general election.

 

Progress

 

Kids Voting communities see adult voter turnout increase between 5 percent and 10 percent.  This would indicate that Kids Voting was a factor in the decision of at least 600,000 adults to vote in 1996.

 

Scope

- 5 million students

- 80,000 volunteers

- 200,000 teachers

- 6,000 schools

- 20,000 voter precincts

 

2000 Theme

Campaign 2000: Our Freedom Our Future!

 

To the polls

1999, a local election year, more than 100 Kids Voting communities in 21 states will invite kids into official polls for balloting. 1998, more than 900,000 students cast ballots at official polls in mid-term elections. In the last presidential election year 1996, 1.5 million students cast ballots at official polls on election day.

 

National News

 

 

1998, Parade magazine, CNN Inside Politics, U.S. News & World Report, Channel One, CNN Newsroom, NPR's Latino USA Radio, Scholastic News, The Associated Press and www.talksport.com.  To date, Kids Voting also has been featured in more than 700 local newspapers nationwide, plus TV and radio reports.

 

1996, NBC Nightly News, Today, Fox News Channel, CBS Up to the Minute, MSNBC, CNN, Court TV, The Associated Press, USA Today, New York Daily News, San Francisco Chronicle and more.  211 consumer impressions were generated by print media alone!

 

K-12 Kids Voting

USA Curriculum

 

A series of innovative, action-packed lessons that are a teachers' tool, designed to be incorporated into existing social studies curricula. And, the lessons include activities for the family, too!

Kids Voting USA

Board Leadership

 

Each state in the Kids Voting USA Network is led by a volunteer board of directors of community leaders.

NEED

  • Kids Voting USA is addressing citizen apathy on an issue that is fundamental to a democracy - the importance of Voting.

 

  • Fifty percent of eligible citizens do not participate in presidential elections; only 39 percent of the voting age public voted in 1994; only 55 percent of the voting age public voted in 1992 (a presidential election year).

 

  • Only 20 percent of those ages 18-24 voted in 1994; less than half of those ages 18-24 were registered to vote.  In 1996, only 30% of those 18-24 voted.

 

PROGRAM

  • Kids Voting USA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, grassroots organization in the schools, community and home.  Students participate in the action-packed K-12 Kids Voting USA Curriculum to learn about the election process.

  • Students cast their own ballots on election day at official polls and are accompanied by their parents or guardian.  The Kids Voting ballots are tabulated just as official results are.

  • Kids Voting projects are led by a board of civic and business leaders and involve parents, schools and community volunteers to implement the program.

GOALS

  • Kids Voting is securing the future of democracy by involving youth in the election process today.

RESEARCH

  • Post-election research conducted by Arizona State University shows that Kids Voting communities see adult voter turnout increase between 5 percent and 10 percent.

 

  • A University of Kansas / Secretary of State study found that 18-year-old former Kids Voting participants voted at a rate 8 percent higher than non-participating peers

 

GROWTH

  • 1988: A pilot program in the East Valley area of metropolitan Phoenix was launched in 40 schools and involved 30,000 students

 

  • 1990: The program became statewide with 750,000 students participating (95 percent of Arizona's K-12 population), 17,000 teachers and 10,000 volunteers.  On election day, more than 130,000 students accompanied their parents to the polls to cast their own ballot.

 

  • 1992: The Kids Voting USA Network branched into 11 states and involved 1.5 million students, with nearly 500,000 going to the pools to vote with parents or guardians in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and Tennessee.

 

  • 1994: Kids Voting USA encompassed 20 states plus the District of Columbia and reached 2.3 million students, 100,000 teachers, 3,000 schools, 8,000 voter precincts and 50,000 volunteers.

 

  • 1996: More than 40 states plus the District of Columbia comprised the Kids Voting USA Network, reaching 4.5 million students, 200,000 teachers, 6,000 schools, nearly 16,000 voter precincts and 75,000 volunteers.  More than 1.5 million students went to polls to cast ballots.

 

  • 1998: Kids Voting USA reaches 5 million students, 200,000 teachers, 20,000 voter precincts and 80,000 volunteers, envolving into a more influential source than ever of opinions and civic involvements of youth and families.

 

FOUNDING

  • The program was founded by three Arizona businessmen and is modeled after a program in Costa Rica, a strong democracy with a consistent voter turnout of approximately 90 percent , the highest of any western democratic country.  For more than 40 years children in Costa Rica have discussed election issues in the classroom and voted alongside their parents on election day.

A Few Election Anecdotes

from around the

Kids Voting USA Network

 

Kids Voting Arkansas

“Mom, we just did something real important, didn’t we?”

 

Kids Voting Colorado

A young girl walked out of the polling site with her mom and said, “Mommy, I just voted for the first time and

I’m going to do it again and again and again!”

 

Kids Voting Georgia

A parent with a child in tow arrived at the polls and told WTOC-TV (Savannah) that it was the first time she had ever voted and the only reason she was voting was because of Kids Voting.

 

Kids Voting Kansas

A family of recently naturalized citizens voted for the first time in November. They stated that the experience was made more meaningful because the entire family, Kids Voters too, could go to the polls together.

 

Kids Voting Massachusetts

At the polls, the mother of a student informed a teacher "I thought it [Kids Voting] was wonderful. In fact, this is the first time my husband and I have ever voted and we’re 32 years old, but I’ll never miss it again.”

 

Kids Voting Maryland

A radio DJ who’s also a Kids Voting fan, reported on the air that he stood in line at the polls for 20 minutes — and then realized he was standing in the kids’ line!  

 

Kids Voting Missouri

A teacher from Kids Voting Missouri: “...it all made sense when I witnessed the kids at the polls — the first grader marking the ballot and the 12th grader waiting patiently behind her.”

 

Kids Voting South Carolina

Poll workers used the Kids Voting ballots to explain to adults confused by proposed constitutional amendments!

 

Kids Voting Virginia

Overheard was a mother standing in line to vote in the pouring rain for 30 minutes: "I wouldn’t be here if you kids didn’t make me come!”