OLYMPIA — National Voter Education Week is Oct. 3-7, and the Office of the Secretary of State is calling on students and teachers across Washington to participate in the 2022 Student Mock Election.
From now until the Nov. 8 General Election, the Student Mock Election is a nonpartisan educational initiative that teaches K-12 students how elections work and how to become informed voters. Students have the opportunity to vote on actual races and measures pertinent to their daily lives, or an alternate version with fictional issues.
Ballots, vote tabulation sheets, and Voters’ Pamphlets are available for download and printing. Other free resources include “I Voted” stickers (which must be ordered by Nov. 8) and the curriculum book Teaching Elections in Washington State. The lessons meet state and Common Core standards, and satisfy the civics coursework required for graduation. Classroom-based assessments are included with each lesson.
“The Student Mock Election is an interactive, educational program that helps students learn more about our elections and enables them to become more informed and involved citizens,” said Assistant Secretary of State Trova O’Heffernan. “Teachers have access to several unique resources and tools to help teach young people how to make civic engagement a lifelong habit.”
In Washington state, 16- and 17-year-olds can sign up as Future Voters and be automatically registered to vote when they become eligible. More information about the Future Voter program, including qualifications and how to register, is available here.
National Voter Education Week (NVEW) is a nonpartisan voter education campaign held the first week of October that equips voters with the tools, information, and confidence they need to cast their ballots. More information is available at votereducationweek.org.
Washington’s Office of the Secretary of State oversees a number of areas within state government, including managing state elections, registering corporations and charities, and governing the use of the state flag and state seal. The office also manages the State Archives and the State Library, documents extraordinary stories in Washington’s history through Legacy Washington, oversees the Combined Fund Drive for charitable giving by state employees, and administers the state’s Address Confidentiality Program to help protect survivors of crime.