• By April W Bowman
• Posted Monday, November 14, 2022

Kids Voting NC

Nearly 1,000 youth from North Carolina voted in the Kids Voting NC 4-H Elections; 71 of those youth were with Forsyth County. You can find the updated final results for each County here.

Also, here is a document with some discussion questions and resources for after the election – voting is just the beginning of informed civic participation!

N.C. Cooperative Extension, Forsyth County Center is participating in "Kids Voting NC" from October 20 to November 8 and would like to invite youth to participate! Kids Voting NC 4-H:

• is free-of-cost to students and educators and we are non-partisan
• has leveled educational materials, including a 2022 Election Guide, to help students cast an informed vote and also to learn about voting democracy and engaged citizenship.
• will be available to all youth regardless of where their family resides, whether or not their parents/guardians are eligible to vote, or their age

Participating in voting experiences at a young age has been shown to help kids develop the skills, knowledge, and motivation to become informed, engaged adult voters! Our ballot will be open from October 20 until November 8.

VOTING
Youth may vote at Kids Voting. All students will enter voter code 000. Once youth have filled out their choices, they should click “confirm” at the bottom of the ballot, review their choices and either “go back” and revise or click “vote”. If youth do not click Vote in this final step, their ballot will not be recorded.

LESSON PLANS
Each of the activities listed below has been created especially for youth groups. They are all-age activities, and each has 15, 30, and 45-minute variations. You can do as little or as much as you want to do to prepare youth for Elections.

• Kids Voting Durham Lessons
• Kids Voting USA (create educator account to access)
• Guide to Being Non-partisan Helpful general tips for adult group leaders
• What kind of voter am I? Helps youth think about what candidate characteristics & issues they care about as voters
• Election Guide Tips and activities for using the Guide with youth
• Voting: An Introduction

Study the candidates, see their faces, etc. in our County Election Guide before casting your vote.

SURVEY
Youth are also invited to take a survey about their Kids Voting experience after voting.

For more information, email, April Bowman, Extension Agent, Livestock, Forages, and 4-H Youth Development at awbowman@ncsu.edu or call 336-703-2855.

Published 10/20/2022. Edited 11/09/2022 and 11/14/2022.