Kids Voting Leon County

THE 2020 KVLC ELECTION

Dear Student Voters, Parents, Teachers & Volunteers,

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As I’m sure you’ve heard recently and repeatedly, the year 2020 has presented unprecedented times. The Kids Voting Leon County (“KVLC”) Board has met and discussed how COVID-19 will affect the 2020 Election taking into account the election process, our commitment to providing an authentic voting experience and the health and safety of student voters and volunteers. On behalf of the Board, I would like to communicate the intentions of KVLC for the 2020 Election:

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• The Board has determined that hosting in-person KVLC precincts at existing Supervisor of Elections precincts would carry a potential health risk to volunteers, students and parents. Furthermore, KVLC, in conjunction with the Supervisor of Elections, has determined that due to social distancing modifications, many precinct locations would no longer have the required space for a KVLC precinct.

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• The Board has also determined that, despite the potential to have in-person KVLC voting at schools, conducting in-school precincts would add another layer of coordination for teachers and staff during a year already filled with changes,­ difficulties and stress.

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In light of the above determinations, the Board has decided to forego the usual KVLC election formats and conduct an online KVLC Election accessible to all Leon County students through the KVLC website (www.kvlc.org) (“KVLC Election Page”).

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• It is our intent to make the KVLC Election Page mirror the Leon County Supervisor of Elections ballot as much as possible. However, keeping in line with the KVLC tradition, the ballot will also include candidate pictures to assist younger voters.
• The KVLC Election Page will include prompts to ask for attending school and grade. As we have done in the past, we will be able to provide individual schools with their school-only results.
• Students can vote at school through their teacher’s curriculum AND at home with their parents. In keeping with the mission of KVLC (to facilitate voter education and provide a real-life voting experience for students), we believe that the experience is more important than the potential duplication of votes.
• The KVLC Election Page will be live and available for voting during Early Voting (October 19 – November 1) and on Election Day (November 3).
• The results of the KVLC Election will be posted to the KVLC webpage and Facebook page on November 4.
• KVLC will not be providing the usual voting materials (i.e., ballot box, pens, carrels), however, the popular “I Voted” stickers will be distributed to all schools interested in participating. More information on sticker distribution will follow.

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KVLC, the Leon County Supervisor of Elections and Leon County Schools will continue with their efforts to provide voter education and curriculum:

• The KVLC Teacher Resources are available at http://kvlc.org/Teacher-Resources.cfm. There are Lesson Plans and Activities for grades K – 12.
• The Leon County Supervisor of Elections will have Future Voter Guides available at the Leon County Election Center located at 2990-1 Apalachee Pkwy and all of the Early Voting sites when Early Voting begins on October 19, 2020.

We encourage all parents and teachers to visit the attached links and utilize the materials provided.

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Despite the shift in election method, we believe that with the cooperation of students, parents and teachers, we can still have a successful and educational 2020 KVLC Election! We appreciate your flexibility and patience as we work our way through the online system. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact KVLC at kidsvoting@gmail.com.

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Sincerely,

Katie Ibarra

KVLC Chair

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­Kids Voting Leon County is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots organization, which facilitates voter education and a real-life voting experience for students from kindergarten through twelfth grade on Election Day. Throughout the year, Kids Voting works with all of the schools within Leon County by providing a civics and election-based curriculum that focuses on the importance of being informed and the responsibilities of voting.

On Election Day, local Kids Voting volunteers staff the polling precincts of Leon County and the youth in our county come out to vote with their parents. The students are able to cast their official Kids Voting ballots at a separate Kids Voting precinct located within their parents’ voting precinct. Their votes are tallied, and the results are provided to the entire community just like the adult election results.

In a time when increasing numbers of young people are losing interest in Election Day, you can reinvigorate our republic by investing in a program that excites our youth to become informed, active contributors to the voting process.