Mock Election

December 02, 2024

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On Nov. 5, the day Americans went to the voting polls, the 7^th through 12th-grade students at Diller-Odell participated in their own mock election.  This event was supervised by the 2^nd Hour Modern Problems Class.  Any 7-12 student could participate in the voting, as long they had registered prior to Election Day.  The idea was to make this election as realistic as possible, as most students in school were not 18 years of age and old enough to vote in the actual election. 

            The ballot for the mock election was almost the same one that Nebraskans in Gage & Jefferson Counties would see in the real election.  Students would vote for President, members of Congress from Nebraska, Initiatives 434 & 439 (abortion), Initiatives 437 & 438 (medical marijuana), and Referendum 435 (state money to private schools).

            A total of 45 students voted in the mock election, which amounts to 54% of the 7-12 student population at Diller-Odell.  Here are the results of the mock election: 

*Donald Trump won the race for President, receiving 76% of the vote. 

*The closest vote was for the Senate seat between Deb Fisher & Dan Osborn, with Fisher

winning by getting 52% of the vote.

            *Pete Ricketts won the other Senate seat, receiving 74% of the vote.

            *Adrian Smith won the race for the House-of-Reps, earning 70% of the vote.

            *Students favored Initiative 434, as 62% voted FOR 434.  Students did not favor Initiative

439, as only 30% voted FOR 439.

            *Students favored both Initiatives 437 & 438, as 58% of the students voted FOR 437

while 56% of the students voted FOR 438.

            *50% of the students voted to RETAIN Referendum 435, while 36% of the students voted

to REPEAL 435. 

All-in-all it seemed to be a good experience for the students who participated.  They even got a sticker to show that they had voted!  Part of the fun for the Modern Problems class after the election was ‘shredding’ all of the political ads they had accumulated prior to voting day. Ironically, most of the results of the Diller-Odell mock election showed many similarities to the actual results that took place in Nebraska’s statewide election.

Mr. Mohr