Overview of the Kids Voting Program

Kids Voting USA is a national non-partisan, non-profit program in which students in grades K-12 study portions of special KVUSA grade specific citizenship activities and then go to the polls with their parents or other adults on Election Day to cast ballots on the same candidates and issues as the adult voters. Kids Voting Missouri is one of 30 affiliate programs in the United States. (For more information see http://www.kidsvotingusa.org)

Missouri joined Kids Voting USA in 1996, when 4 Missouri school districts participated in the program. The Ritenour School District, located in Northwest St. Louis County, was the first St. Louis area school district to participate. Since that time, Kids Voting Missouri has grown from 4 school school districts to more than 20 area districts.

For the 2012 November election, Kids Voting Missouri expects close to 200,000 K-12 students throughout the St. Louis Metro area to participate. School districts, charter schools, and educational institutions, will have the opportunity to participate in the off-year elections.

Participating students engage in special Kids Voting USA activities. They learn about citizenship, the history of voting, the candidates, and the issues.  Divided by grade levels and thematic units, students have an opportunity to learn about the suffrage movement and why voting and civic participation is so important to sustaining our democracy.

By the "official" voter registration deadline in October, students in grades K-12 are asked to "practice" registering to vote by filling out  a special student voter registration card. Students also have an opportunity to learn about the candidates and issues appearing on the 2012 Kids Voting Missouri ballot.  

The goal of Kids Voting Missouri is to teach students to become informed, responsible citizens.  They learn, they research, they discuss, they debate, the compromise, and they make informed decisions.

Going Green...Kids Voting Missouri will again join other Kids Voting USA affiliates in using Kids Voting USA's on-line voter system called "DoubleClick Democracy."  With a click of the mouse, students in K-12 will vote for many of the same candidates and issues as the adult voters. Going Green also saves more than 250,000 sheets of paper and more than $30,000 in ballot and scanning costs.

When Is Election Day? For Election 2012, Kids Voting Missouri will "experiment" with early voting. Early Voting will begin on Monday, October 22 and continue until Monday, November 5, 2012 (excluding weekends). And of course, the Kids Voting Missouri polls will also be open on Tuesday, November 6th--the official Election Day.

Dr. Wolfgang Althof, the Teresa M. Fishcer Professor of Citizenship Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis is the Executive Director of CECH and co-director of UMSL's Center for Character and Citizenship.  Dr. Althof provides leadership and support for the two CECH programs--Kids Voting Missouri and MY LOGO--Missouri Youth Engaged in Local Government.

NOTE: Citizenship Education Clearing House or CECH (pronounced "check") has conducted programs in civic education since the 1960's. CECH's programs provide students a real-life experience in the political process, with the expectation that "learning the system" will encourage them to participate in politics when they become adults.

Sandy Diamond, M.Ed. is the former Newspapers in Education (NIE) Coordinator for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and is also a former Hazelwood School District government teacher. 

Sandy serves as the Director of Kids Voting Missouri and has been with the program since June 1999.  She also serves as the Program Director for MY LOGO. Kids Voting Missouri teaches students about elections and voting and MY LOGO teaches students in 4-12th grade about local government.

The University of Missouri-St. Louis College of Education administers both Kids Voting Missouri & MY LOGO.

Funding for Kids Voting Missouri

While administrative and office support is provided by the University of Missouri-St. Louis College of Education, Kids Voting Missouri is almost 100% externally funded. Most monies are raised through public and private grants and gifts.

Most funding for Election 2012 has been provided by CECH (Citizenship Education Clearing House) Endowment.  Kids Voting Missouri is very greatful to Schucks for underwriting the 2012 "I Voted Stickers."   Schnucks has stepped up to the plate each election year to help underwrite various aspects of the Kids Voting Missouri program. 

A huge Kids Voting Missouri thank you goes out to Schnucks.

More funding is needed to pay for Student Voter Registration Cards, Say Yes To Voting T-Shirts, and voting carrels.  To make a tax deductible contribution to Kids Voting Missouri simply email Sandy Diamond at sdiamond@umsl.edu and she'll provide all the details.  Checks can be written to the University of Missouri-St. Louis and sent to Sandy's attention at: UMSL, One University Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63121.

A special thank you goes to Gary Kodner and Peggy Nehmen (www.n-kcreative.com) for their tremendous support of Kids Voting Missouri.