Class Elections Upgraded Through RI Voter Program

WEST WARWICK, RI — Gone are the days of casting votes using scraps of paper in a bucket. On Friday, West Warwick High School juniors were given the chance to cast their votes for class president using real Rhode Island state ballots and voting machines, thanks to an initiative from Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea.

Student government is very important to West Warwick students, said Principal Philip Solomon.

"By the time they graduate, our students have used these voting machines as many as four times, so they're ready to vote in state elections," Solomon said. "I hope that all students across the state have this opportunity."

Since 2015, Gorbea has made the machines available to Rhode Island school, which she says allows students to "feel the real consequences of elections."

"American democracy is fabulous in many, many ways, but it's also very complicated," Gorbea told students. "Making it easy for learn how to vote is key."

Most schools use the machines for class elections, which unlike a mock election allows students to feel the real consequences of voting in an election as well as help with voter anxiety by familiarizing students with the process.

On Friday, students cast their votes between class presidential candidates Hannah Collins and Virsavia Goretoy. The other candidates, Leo Salazar for Vice President, Moses Nicolau for Secretary and Joe Marzilli for Treasurer all ran unopposed but were still included on the ballot.

Before the election, each candidate was given the opportunity to address their peers.

"Now is the time to refresh our perspective," Collins said. "If you make the same decisions, you'll get the same results. I'm Hannah Collins and I'm ready for change!"

Her opponent, Goretoy, stood at the podium and said she was there to speak from the heart.

"You know what I'm capable of, and you know what this committee is capable of," she said, choking up slightly as she spoke to how being a part of the student government has changed her life since freshman year. "I can't change everything around here, like I can't get rid of homework--I tried!--but I'll do everything I can."

Following the speeches, the class of around 230 juniors lined up and, one by one, filled out their ballots and fed them into the voting machines the same way all Rhode Island voters do on election day. With the new voting machines, results are available as soon as the polls are closed, but the winners will remain a mystery until the school's spirit week in May.

There have been 22 elections in total at schools across the state since the start of the program. Throughout the rest of the semester, the Secretary of State's office will visit nine additional schools to conduct elections for the upcoming school year.

The main goal, Gorbea said, is to demystify the voting process and help make young people feel more comfortable at the polls. So far, reactions have been positive, and turnout among young voters have only increased in the past several elections. From 2014 until 2018, the number of voters aged 18 to 20 has increased by 64 percent.

"If we want people to vote, we have to make sure they have the experience early on," Gorbea said. "It's not enough just to lament about it, we need to do something."

READ MORE: Record Number Of Rhode Islanders Registered To Vote In 2018