Clinton Wins Big in Mock Election, Too

On election day at a Northridge day school, the older students voted for president and some of the state propositions, and the younger ones picked their favorite fruit.

President Clinton won in a landslide among third through ninth graders in the unofficial election Tuesday at Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School. They favored the president by a 6-1 ratio over Bob Dole.

Held in the computer lab of the private kindergarten through ninth grade Jewish school, the mock election was conducted electronically, with nearly 330 students recording by computer their choice for president and six propositions on the California ballot.

“It’s fun to get a feel of what it’s going to be like when we’re 19 or 20,” sixth-grader Sara Gatig said of the mock election.

The students began preparations for election day weeks ago by studying the propositions, and educating each other on the pros and cons of each choice and making banners for three presidential candidates. They even filled out official Los Angeles County voter registration forms.

By Tuesday, students were ready to cast their votes with the rest of the nation.

The third- through ninth-graders approved Proposition 204, the clean water proposal, by a vote of 279 to 29.

Results were not available for the vote by fifth- through ninth-graders on Proposition 205, the jail bond initiative; Proposition 206, which would establish a bond issue for low-interest loans for veterans; Proposition 209, the anti-affirmative action initiative; Proposition 210, the minimum wage increase initiative, and Proposition 215, the initiative legalizing medical use of marijuana.

“We felt these were the ones that students of this age could relate to and understand,” said Judy Eber, a teacher in the school’s computer lab.

The students said they enjoyed the exercise in democracy.

“A vote really does make a difference,” said 11-year-old Clinton supporter Joyce Glasberg. “It may not seem like much, but it could be half for Dole and half for Clinton and that one vote can decide it.”

The voting results of the younger students were not available, but the strawberry was the choice of many as their favorite fruit--to consume at snack time.