DAVENPORT, Iowa — One week out from the general election, students at Trinity Lutheran School in Davenport participated in the statewide 2020 Iowa Youth Straw Poll on Tuesday morning. More than 140 students, from 4th to 8th grade, joined thousands of students, from more than 250 schools, in casting - well-informed - ballots.
In Michael Paulsen's seventh grade class, voting without background research is a huge no-go.
"The Iowa straw poll is an opportunity for us to express our vote," said Paulsen. "If you're not 100% sure, the best thing you can do before you go out and vote, is actually learn more about those platforms. If you don't know a candidate, you probably shouldn't vote for them."
As he passed out ballots, he chatted about all the kids had been learning in history class, and how it directly correlated to the current political climate.
"It's so hard not to talk about politics when you talk about history," he said. "Today, we're talking about slavery, and they're watching the Black Lives Matter movement at the same time."
Over the past few weeks, his students have spent time writing an essay (including three main points) on which presidential candidate they'd each be choosing, and why. They also had in-class debates, where each side got to argue their points for why their candidate was a better fit for the country.
"I really like having a voice in this world. It makes me feel like I matter and my decisions help people," said Luke Woodruff, a seventh grader at Trinity Lutheran School.
Luke pointed out that the last time Americans voted in a presidential election, he was in third grade. To him, even though he's not old enough to have his vote counted in the general election, his perspective as a young citizen is still important.
"I saw everything happening, but I wasn't really in on it because I didn't really understand. But now that I'm in seventh grade and I'm 13, now I'm starting to see more things and understand it more and I get to do more things about it."
One of his classmates, Payton Dougles, agreed. He said he's been watching all of the political ads on TV over the last few months, but he's learned that you need to dig deeper, to truly know a candidate.
"As seventh graders," he said, "We should care about it, so we get in the habit of it for when we get older. It'll help people understand how things are going on."
He went on to say that debating and voting for the first time was fun, and that several of his classmates made some compelling points.
While the kids filled out their ballots, Paulsen pointed out that he's taught them to look beyond the "R" or "D" on the paper. To him, having an informed vote is having an empowered vote.
"I voted for Donald Trump," Ayva Keckler told News 8. "He's not the nicest person, and his past is a little different than what he is now, but I think he knows how to run a business better than the other candidates do."
Across the classroom, Micah Roldan cast his vote for Joe Biden.
"I think that Biden really does have a plan for the coronavirus and a lot of people have died under Donald Trump's watch and I don't think that's fair," he said. "Joe Biden really does wanna fight for women's rights and I think that's very important to our country."
No matter who each student voted for, each person we spoke to mentioned how important each of their ballots were.
To Ayva, she's able to tell people what she believes and thinks through her vote. To Payton, every vote matters when it comes to choosing elected officials. To Luke, voting in an actual election is the 'main thing' he's looking forward to about turning 18. And to Micah, every person's vote should be treated as the ballot that will decide a tie-breaker.
"If we have all these people saying that their vote doesn’t count, that’s going to end up being the votes that do count. You have the right and you have the opportunity to vote and have who you want in office. It's very important."
By the end of the day, the students helped tally the votes, and the results for the presidential race were:
Donald Trump 73.2%
Joe Biden 18.1%
Jo Jorgenson 2.3%
Kayne West 4.7%
Roque De La Fuente 0.7%
For the open seat in the Senate:
Joni Ernst 67.2%
Theresa Greenfield 24.6%
Rick Steward 4%
Suzanne Herzog 4%
And in the House of Representatives:
Mariannette Miller-Meeks 54.6%
Rita Hart 45.3%