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Spring, 1998. Vol. 85 No. 2 |
Making Democracy Real: Mock Election
By Emily Penfield, LWVC Voters Services Director, South
Mock Election 1998 is off and running with tremendous community support this year! "We have 50 local Leagues involved so far and the Governor, Secretary of State and the Superintendent of Public Instruction have all agreed to be honorary co-chairs," says Cindi Hammond, Mock Election State Coordinator.
Working with the League on the steering committee are representatives from the California League of Middle Schools, California Partnership for Children, California School Boards Association, California School Nurses Organization, California State PTA, California Teachers Association, and the Sacramento County Office Of Education. This committee has convened and is developing a promotional and public relations campaign designed to expand the Mock Election outreach.
And the project has gone high tech this year with a new toll-free number 1-800-537-9610 and a website: http://agsc.ucdavis.edu/polinet/elections/lwv. With the generous assistance of Professor Geoffrey Wandesforde-Smith and Intern Janette Girod from the Political Science Department at the University of California, Davis, the new website will permit participating teachers to register their classes on line, download class materials and lesson plans, record their votes and provide timely election results.
A welcome change this year is the increased staff in the Elections Division at the Secretary of State's Office in Sacramento. The staff is working diligently with youth, businesses and various other groups to increase voter participation throughout the state. Mock Election is very happy to have them as such a strong partner for the June primary. A catalog of FREE materials available for voter registration drives is new for this election. A complimentary copy will be sent to each local League President. Individual copies can be obtained by calling the Secretary of State's Office at (916) 657-2166.
For more information on how to get a Mock Election going in your community, please call Cindi Hammond at 1-800-537-9610.
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© Copyright 1998 by the League of Women Voters of California
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