About the Event
The 2022 National Student Mock Election is a collaboration of civic-minded organizations coming together to ensure every school-age student has the opportunity to learn about civics in general and to participate in the most important function a citizen in a democracy can - to vote.
These groups include Discovery Education, University of Virginia's Center for Politics Youth Leadership Initiative, Constituting America, America's Mock Election, Win My Vote, the National Student/Parent Mock Election, ConSource, as well as countless donors that have contributed over the last few decades.
Two organizations in particular, the Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI) and the National Student/Parent Mock Election, come to this national event with decades of experience in hosting nationwide online mock elections.
The Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI) at the University of Virginia Center for Politics was founded by Professor Larry J. Sabato with the mission of increasing civic engagement by providing teachers the best resources and activities for civics education. Professor Sabato found that the many of his students were coming to the University with little knowledge of the U.S. political system and a lack of urgency in being civically engaged. He founded YLI and its National Mock Election in response which since that time has assisted over 100,000 educators and reached millions of K-12 students throughout the nation and around the world. Educators may access free lesson plans, downloadable mock election decorations, printable instructions, debate watching guides and much more after registering for free at www.youthleadership.net. YLI's activities and resources develop the knowledge and understanding of the importance of being a civically engaged citizen.
The National Student/Parent Mock Election was started in 1980 by Edward Stanley and Gloria Kirshner who created Exploring on NBC, a nationwide broadcast of the elementary school curriculum in language arts, social studies, math, and science. Exploring became extremely popular, but the two quickly noticed that social studies teachers, especially those attempting to teach civics and government, were underserved. In fact, coaches and math teachers were taking on civics courses at the middle and high school levels. Stanley and Kirshner both realized these underserved children - and their children's children - would soon determine the destiny of the world's longest-lasting democracy. The first-ever National Student/Parent Mock Election was in 1980 and had teachers, students and parents casting votes in approximately 30 states. Since that time, millions of students from across the U.S. participated in their mock elections. In 2016 the National Student/Parent Mock Election moved online, mobile, and social and over a million teachers and students participated.
The collaborating organizations believe that millions of students and their teachers will log in, review candidate profiles, compare issue statements, discuss, debate, and cast their vote online in the National Student Mock Election!
