Six-year-old Shyanne Garcia may need help writing and spelling her name, but that didn’t keep the Prairie Park School first-grader from voting Tuesday.

Shyanne participated in Kids Voting Douglas County with assistance from her father, Tony Garcia.

Hillcrest third-grader Yang Tang Li, second from right, looks at who his classmate Rob Aga voted for on his Kids Voting ballot. The students chose their favorite candidates on Tuesday.

“I voted earlier, but she saw the flag and wanted to vote,” Tony Garcia said of his daughter. “She even knew who she wanted to vote for.”

Shyanne voted for Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry, who won the Kids Voting poll with 2,230 votes — or 50 percent of the votes. President George Bush received 1,963 votes — or 44 percent of the votes.

In Douglas County, 4,426 ballots were counted. Some ballots were discarded because students voted for more than one candidate in some races.

Kids Voting is coordinated by the Lawrence Journal-World, Douglas County public schools, area businesses and the Roger Hill Volunteer Center. Students in kindergarten through 12th grade were able to vote.

About 80 Lawrence High School juniors and seniors tallied the votes Tuesday night in the commons area at LHS, 1901 La. All the students were in one of three classes taught by history and government teacher Paul Stuewe.

Parents whose children had voted said they appreciated the program because it allowed their children to be involved.

“I heard about it, and I thought it would be a good experience for my daughter,” said Lisa Vanderbilt. Her daughter Sydney Vanderbilt, who is 8, voted at Prairie Park. She said the best part was being able to make her own decisions.

Katelyn Graham, 9, agreed.

“I like this because you have to be 18 to vote, but this lets me vote even if it doesn’t really count,” Katelyn said.

She made her decision after doing some research. While she wouldn’t say which candidate got her vote, she made it pretty clear.

“I don’t like President Bush,” she said. “He’s going to ruin Alaska.”

Overview Unofficial election results Douglas County precinct map Election Day 2004 feedback Kids Voting ResultsCounty Democrat unseats D.A. of 8 years Former mayor defeats Buhler in Senate race Embattled district judge stays on bench McElhaney survives short-lived deficit Record number of voters cast their ballots in county Douglas County kids choose Kerry Politicians, supporters share ‘crazy’ election-night revelry Voters approve Perry-Lecompton bond issue Township lacks candidatesState Moore fends off another challenge Ryun wins contentious 2nd District Congress seat Brownback easily defends his U.S. Senate seat Holland inches past GOP challenge Pine takes 3rd District Senate seat Wagnon wins State Board of Education race Seven incumbents lose; GOP pads majority in House Voters deny sales tax for K.C. arena Bush wins Kansas handily Kansans show they’re satisfied with Bush Counties see high voter turnout Election briefsNational Too close to call President ‘upbeat’ on election returns Kerry sentimental as race nears end Analysis: Emotions guided presidential voting Networks use care in reporting results New media throw caution to the wind Presidential race prompts late selloff State by state results: Midwest State by state results: West State by state results: Northeast State by state results: South California backs stem-cell research Voters in 11 states approve gay-marriage bans GOP wins key states in South World riveted by U.S. electionMultimedia Photo Gallery: Election Day 2004 6News video: Dennis Moore wins in a ‘landslide’ 6News video: Dennis Moore victory speech 6News video: Bob Johnson wins 2nd District County Commission position 6News video: Paula Gilchrist presumed Douglas County Treasurer 6News video: Ken McGovern wins sheriff’s office 6News video: Jere McElhaney on the 3rd District Commissioner seat 6News video: Penrod optimistic about Douglas County Clerk position 6News video: Ermeling hopeful in 3rd District Commissioner race 6News video: Francisco likely to win 2nd District Barbara Ballard talks about younger voters and their importance in this election. Barbara Ballard talks about being in Lawrence and Kansas on election night. Paul Davis talks about the importance of this election to the Kansas Democrats. Paul Davis chooses his most important race in Kansas. Paul Davis talks about the feeling among other Democrats in Kansas. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius addresses the crowd at Abe ‘N Jakes Landing.