Salem Junior High Holds Successful Mock Election - Answer to Wednesday Challenge

Students at Salem Junior High were surrounded by a sea of “I Voted” stickers and talk of candidates and politics on Monday morning when the school put on its first-ever mock-election. All students were given the opportunity to vote for a new US President and Utah Governor, with ballots just like those the adults will be given, except this was an election where students were the voters. 

Polls opened at 7:30 and stayed busy throughout the day. Teachers brought students down to vote during class and at lunch, many more came through, and ballot boxes quickly filled up. Over 75 percent of students participated, with results showing landslide majorities for each race. The final results were tallied up by history teachers and students at the end of the day. 

The outcomes? 

For President, Donald Trump won with a whopping 60 percent of the vote, with Evan McMullin following at 10 percent, and Hillary Clinton with 5 percent. 

For the governor's race, Gary Herbert won with a majority of 62 percent, followed by Mike Weinholtz at 7 percent, and Brian Kamerath at 6 percent. 

According to new polls conducted by YouGov/CBS, Utah is likely to be won by Trump at 40 percent, followed by McMullin (24 percent), Clinton (23 percent), and Johnson (7 percent). If this turns out to be an accurate prediction, the general electorate shows a smaller landslide win for Trump and larger wins for Clinton and McMullin than compared to Salem Junior’s results. Compared to national polls, Salem’s results do seem to differ, shown in one poll conducted by the Washington Post with Clinton at 47 percent, Trump at 43 percent, and Johnson at 7 percent. 

Working to bring the 2016 presidential and Utah governor elections to the students of Salem Junior High were ninth graders Larson Brown, Laura Johnson, and Sydney Ward. With the help of history teacher Kristen Van De Graaff and principal Robert Fleming, Salem Junior High’s first ever mock election came to be. Since the summer, students and teachers alike have worked to make this event happen. In the days leading up to the mock-election, students were given time in their history classes to research candidates and issues; while students also made posters advertising the event. 

Congratulations to Kira Muir for answering this week’s “Where are we Wednesday?” challenge sponsored by Wiggy Wash.