Minnesota’s ‘Students Voting’: more than a mock election

Over 100,000 students from hundreds of K-12 schools across Minnesota took part in one of the most successful student mock election programs in the country in 2022. This program, called Students Voting, is the result of a partnership between the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office, the YMCA Center for Youth Voice, and BallotReady. 

Merging two distinct mock election programs in 2018, Students Voting has pioneered an all-encompassing statewide K-12 student voting experience that mirrors the real democratic process. 

However, Students Voting is more than just a mock election. Using BallotReady, teachers have the resources to provide their students with a comprehensive voting experience including researching the candidates on their ballot prior to voting, using a sample ballot to plan their selections, learning how to vote early or on Election Day, and understanding the power of their vote in our democracy. The impact of this program is reflected in Minnesota’s status as one of the highest youth civic participation states in the country.

“Our goal is to provide very hands-on civic learning programs that have kids learning civics by doing civics, and so the student voting program is one of our favorites,” said Amy Anderson, Executive Director of the Center for Youth.

We recently sat down with Amy and Michael Wall, the Outreach Manager for the Center for Youth Voice to learn more about how they pulled this remarkable program off.