The country voted for Donald Trump in the presidential election on Nov. 5, but in a mock election Sunday, Nov 3, in Flossmoor, local young people expressed a diametrically opposite preference.
All the approximately 25 votes cast at the Hoereth family’s presidential election for kids were for Vice President Kamala Harris.
vote for president a mock election Sunday, Nov. 3.
(Eric Crump/H-F Chronicle)
for kids. (Eric Crump/H-F Chronicle)
Michelle and Joe Hoereth have been hosting the mock election every four years for the past 16 years. They set up a voting booth with a sign on one side: “Kids Vote Too!!” along with photos of the two major party candidates, in this case, Trump and Harris.
The booth was the original from 2008.
The purpose of the tradition is to help children get in the habit of voting, to see it as a normal part of life, Michelle said in 2020.
This year has been a challenge for everyone, she said, because of the long and intense campaign.
“You can’t turn it off,” she said. “We’re news junkies. It’s so much, and it’s so stressful. For young voters, they don’t even know; it’s like where’s the truth.”
One youth voter this year, Maddy Scheidewind, said she appreciated the opportunity. She will be able to vote the official elections in two years.
“I think it’s cool kids around the area have an opportunity to do this,” she said.
Related story:
Local kids vote on Sunday in practice run for exercising civic duty (Nov. 3, 2020).
