Slowly it dawned on me that she would be teaching process, including the concept of majority rule, the business of voter registration, nominating candidates, narrowing the field, and what one did when one took that sheet of paper into the election booth. It didn’t matter that our “booth” would be just a sheet draped from the edge of a classroom loft to provide a private voting space, complete with desk and pencil, or that the ballot they were given would be a blank, 4” square of paper.

Over the period of about a week, we took a few minutes each day to explain what came next in preparing for an election. First, we decided who would be eligible to vote, i.e. you had to be a child in that particular classroom. On the day for nominations, we had a rather short list of names, because the children had been excitedly forming and re-forming alliances. By a preliminary show of hands we got the field down to four: Big Bird, The Cat in the Hat, Winnie the Pooh (Disney version), and – several girls got together on this one -- Olivia. The children were encouraged to promote their favorites by making posters (newsprint and paint in the art area) or campaign “buttons” (decorated cardboard rounds) or short speeches on the playground. There was a primary vote by show of hands, with the teacher counting each candidate’s votes aloud. The field was thus narrowed to two candidates: Big Bird and Winnie the Pooh.  

On Election Day, each child verified eligibility by signing his or her name next to an enlarged version of our class list, as he or she entered the booth to vote. Once in the booth, they were instructed either to write the name or draw a picture of the candidate of their choice, and then to fold the ballot, and put it into the ballot box (a square facial tissue box, decorated with crepe paper).

You may be sure that “tallying,” done in front of the children by the teachers, took some careful interpretation. Unlike grownup elections, we showed each vote as we unfolded it, and placed a mark on the whiteboard under the candidate’s name, using the time-honored method of tallying by four upright lines and a slash for the number 5. 

Every now and again, a child would call out “That’s my vote!” when we held up the pictorial or written ballot.

“Sssh!” someone would say. “It’s a SECRET ballot!”

 One ballot was marked, simply, with a wobbly “BB.”  “Big Bird!” the children shouted.

By the time we had counted the ballots and set up the hash marks so that we could get the total, (counting aloud by fives, a skill the children already knew) and then had written the numeric total next to each candidate’s name, everyone knew that Big Bird was the winner. There were a few sad faces, but in the spirit of true comity, one splendid little girl shrugged and said: “I still love Olivia the best, but last night my daddy said that even if Olivia didn’t get on the ballot, it just means that you can like someone different from your friends and that’s okay.”

Wow. Comity in the kindergarten:  God bless that wise father. Very quickly, the class came to the realization that if your candidate didn’t win, it didn’t mean that you were “dumb” or “a loser.” It just meant that many of us have different opinions, and that election was simply a reflection of those differences. And that our class, like America itself, was special because we accept – and even celebrate -- differences, an idea eagerly seized on by the kids.

And by the way, we never had a demand for a recount.

©2012 Julia Sneden for SeniorWomen.com

 Image:  Big Board. Library of Congress, Living Legends Award photo, 2000.

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