West Des Moines Valley Students Back Obama, Boswell and Same-Sex Marriage

If Valley High School is a microcosm for West Des Moines and Iowa voters, President Obama is a shoo-in for re-election, Leonard Boswell can keep his place in the nation’s capitol while Tom Latham heads back home to Iowa and same-gender married couples are safe from a constitutional amendment that would ban unions like theirs.

That’s how students voted in a recent mock election, part of a countywide mock vote that canvassed students on the top two races on the Nov. 6 ballot and five questions that were developed by the students.

Student body president Ben Weinberg is still 17, so he will have to wait until 2016 to cast a presidential ballot, but some Valley High School students will cast real-life ballots next month.

“Those over 18 are very eager to have that process,” Weinberg said. “They learned a lot by doing the mock election. There are a lot of kids who have never been to a polling booth.”

He said the exercise “takes away any of the fear that might come with the election process.”

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Students in the senior government class queried the student body about a variety of issues, then the five most interesting were selected for the ballot, he said.

Those questions, and the results, are:

• 1. Have you ever been under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol? Yes 395 No 821

• 2. Do you believe the legal drinking age should be lowered from age 21? Yes 584 No 666

• 3. Do you believe there should be a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage? Yes 254 No 957

• 4. Do you believe Valley High School should exempt students involved in a sport from physical education class? Yes 910 No 306

• 5.  Do you believe Valley High School should play current popular music during passing periods at school? Yes 838 No 376

The students voted. Now it's your turn to answer the same questions.

David Maxwell, an associate principal at Valley, said the questions help administrators develop policy that responds to students' concerns.

“It always helps to know where the students’ opinions are regarding certain issues,” he said. “It helps guide us in terms of making the most effective policies, which are going to help benefit kids.”

He said mock election results are valuable for educators, but also for the community to help understand the priorities of teenagers.

“There are some things we can’t change – we can’t change the law when kids can purchase alcohol, but it helps us to know if kids think it should be lowered,” Maxwell said. “That could be indicative of some other things.”

Weinberg said talking about issues like whether the drinking age should be lowered or remain at 21 helped students to understand the logic behind laws.

“There are reason for the laws we have and students do understand that,” Weinberg said. As students discussed and voted on lowering the legal age to drink, they weren’t able to offer enough compelling arguments supporting such a change.

Weinberg, who is undecided where he wants to go to school, has no doubts about what he wants to major in: political science, with an eye toward law school. He said he’s always been political, as far back as the fourth grade, when his Crosroads Park Elementary School teacher reportedly said she wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the Oval Office one day.

He had argued persuasively – if not ultimately successfully – that going from three recesses in third grade to only one in fourth grade was unfair students, and that fourth-graders needed one more.

“I’ve always had strong opinions,” Weinberg. “I’m a pretty outgoing student and I think I have good people skills. I’m interested in the politics of things."

Mock Election Results

The countywide mock election, paid for with a $50,000 three-year grant, the largest awarded the United States Election Assistance Commission, was designed to give students a real-life polling experience. Here’s how the top races played out:

For President and Vice President
Barack Obama/Joe Biden – Valley: 56.13 percent Countywide: 60.26 percent
Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan  – Valley: 36.36 percent Countywide: 33.15 percent

For U.S. Representative, Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District
Leonard Boswell – Valley: 44.85 percent Countywide: 47.37 percent
Tom Latham – Valley: 38.56 percent Countywide: 33.49 percent

In a news release, Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald said he doesn’t necessarily think the results are a harbinger of Election Day. Rather, their success in the mock election could be a reflection of how effective they are in using social media. A proliferation of television ads may also have influenced their votes, he said.

Complete results for mock elections held in the Ankeny, Des Moines East, Des Moines Lincoln, Des Moines North, Johnston, North Polk Saydel, Urbandale and West Des Moines are available on the Polk County Auditor’s website.