Bellingham High School Votes

With the current elections underway, Bellingham High School decided to do a mock election Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2014. Students educated each other on various political candidates and campaigns both local and national.

Vice Principle Jeanette Grisham expressed the importance of the students to be educated and get in the habit of voting early. “We don’t care who the students vote for as long as they get in the habit of voting. It’s important to make voting ‘cool’ especially to the new incoming students.”

The importance of voting is not to be belittled. In the past presidential, only 37% of 18-22 were registered to vote and only 32% actively voted. While that number has increased steadily over time, it is still a very influential part of the population that is unspoken for.

Though the majority of the high school is under the legal voting age, the senior class is quickly approaching the young adult milestone, and few have already reached it. Alex Richard, a senior at Bellingham High School is one of the first to reach the voting age. “I’m so far a democrat although my parents are republican. They insist I’m going to change my mind, but republicans seem selfish to me. Don’t tell them I said that.”

The local results calculated by the 12^th grade social studies class were remarkably similar to those decided by the City of Bellingham as a whole. The Bellingham High School students voted to pass I-1351, which supported smaller class sizes and increased school staff by a small percentage, as well as passing both gun measures, I-591 and I-594 by about 70%. The students of the local high school also voted in favor of Candidate Rick Larson and in favor of Congressional Candidate Pedro Celis.

Hoping to encourage and cultivate the next generation of voters, Bellingham High School intends to organize mock elections for the next presidential race as well as other political appointments in the future.