Volume 59, Issue 12  - November 6, 2006

Kids cast ‘votes’ in election
By Hugo Rodriguez
Staff Writer

Kids Voting Brownsville launched a citywide campaign for voting awareness last week, with different events hosted at 25 different schools in the city.

The program is a partnership formed by the UTB/TSC Center for Civic Engagement with public and private schools in the city.

The partnership helps children learn about civics, voting, candidates and issues, said Diana Arredondo, office manager for the Center for Civic Engagement.

This year, Brownsville students in kindergarten through 12^th grade are mock voting online for governor, District 38 state representative and 138th district judge. Voting began last Thursday and ends at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

“The student will be able to go in there, and click, and get the results immediately,” Arredondo said.

 Voting will be only one of the events.

“The kids will be having different activities at their schools. … At some of the schools, they [will] have forums,” Arredondo said.

Last year, 21,035 out of 50,000 students voted. Arredondo hopes the number will be higher this time.

“We’re letting the schools take ownership of it. … That way, you actually incorporate more kids versus just the kids that are able to come to our events,” she said.

Arredondo said the program is funded through community donations. The Center for Civic Engagement provides technical and logistical support, helping process paperwork and answering questions from instructors regarding the Kids Voting program.         

“Democracy is not magic,” said Joseph A. Zavaletta Jr., associate professor of business law and director of the Center of Civic Engagement. “It’s a habit that has to be developed, just like we teach our kids to read and write, teaching them to vote and be informed is a habit they have to develop, and the only way to do that is to practice … that’s the purpose of Kids Voting Brownsville.”