photo by: Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence

In a mock 2020 election organized by the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence, local students overwhelmingly supported Democrat Joe Biden for the U.S. presidency. The purpose of the mock election was to provide an educational experience to students about the voting and election process.

The Lawrence youth vote came out strong this week for Joe Biden as local students continued an election-year tradition of casting ballots in important races, including the U.S. presidency.

Although their votes didn’t technically count, thousands of Lawrence students made their voices heard by voting in mock elections organized by the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence. According to the results published online, Lawrence students from kindergarten to high school had their say in the vote.

The students overwhelmingly supported Democrat Joe Biden in his bid for the presidency over incumbent Republican President Donald Trump. Biden earned 1,673, or 73.7%, of the students’ votes, while Trump earned 466 votes for 20.5%. Additionally, Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen earned 132 votes for 5.8%.

Prior to the mock election, the club said in a news release that the purpose of the event was to help students learn more about the voting process by giving them the chance to cast a ballot. The club noted the exercise was purely educational, and it said encouraging the students to vote a certain way was “strictly prohibited.”

“We hope that these experiences translate into kids becoming responsible, informed voters as they grow up,” club CEO Monica Dittmer said in a news release. “We talk about ‘Great Futures Start Here’ every day. This is the way that all Americans can affect what their future is going to look like.”

Lawrence students have been participating in mock elections since 1992, when the Lawrence school district was one of six sites in Kansas to launch a Kids Voting initiative. The initiative was originally funded by local businesses, including the Journal-World, and helped students travel to polling sites to cast their mock ballots.

The Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence eventually took over the initiative and has organized the Voting for Great Futures mock elections every other year — aligning with Kansas gubernatorial and U.S. presidential elections — since 2014.

Just like the adults of Douglas County, the Lawrence students this year cast their ballots for the federal, state and county races. The students were also able to cast their ballots virtually, somewhat similar to how many county residents voted through the mail this year.

“The voting experience looks different for all of us this year, and adults are still making a plan to vote,” Dittmer said prior to the election. “Why wouldn’t we do the same for our children? An online ballot is not the same, of course, but knowing what decisions they will be making someday in the real ballot booth is incredibly important.”

The complete results of the students’ mock election are posted on the club’s website, bgclk.org.

photo by: Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence

The results of mock votes cast by students through the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence are shown in this graphic for the U.S. Senate race in Kansas.

photo by: Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence

The results of mock votes cast by students through the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence are shown in this graphic for the U.S. House of Representatives 2nd District race.