Student Results Participation Breakdown by Classes Morris Central School Mock Primary Election Results April 19, 2016 149 students from grades 7-12 participated in the mock election. The table and graph below show the breakdown of participants by class. Grade level # of participants Percentage of 7 21 14.1% 8 28 18.8% 9 32 21.5% 10 22 14.8% 11 31 20.8% 12 15 10.1% Political Party Affiliation Students were asked to choose a party affiliation (Democratic or Republican Party) in order to lead them to the appropriate presidential candidates to choose from. The table and graph below show the results. Democratic Party Republican Party # of votes 63 86 42.3% 57.7% The majority of the Morris Central School student body in grades 7-12 identified with the Republican Party, where a minority of them identified with the Democratic Party. However, the students who identified with the Republican Party only held a slim majority of 7.7% over the students who identified with the Democratic Party. Democratic Candidates The 63 students who identified with the Democratic Party were asked to choose between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination. The table and graph below show the results. Bernie Sanders Hillary Clinton # of votes 61 2 96.8% 3.2% An overwhelming majority of students voted Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination, beating Hillary Clinton by 93.6% of.
Republican Candidates The 86 students who identified with the Republican Party were asked to choose between John Kasich, Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump for the Republican nomination. The table and graph below show the results. John Kasich Ted Cruz Donald Trump # of votes 14 17 55 19.8% 16.3% 64% The majority of students voted for Donald Trump. Ted Cruz came in second, and John Kasich, third; however, more students voted for Trump than Cruz and Kasich combined. Bottom Line Exit Poll According to the students in grades 7-12 who participated in the Morris Central School Mock Primary Election, the Presidential Nominees for each party will be as follows: Democratic Party: Bernie Sanders Republican Party: Donald Trump After voting for a candidate, students were asked to answer a series of questions as part of an exit poll. The poll consisted of two parts. Part 1 Students were asked four questions. The first two pertained to their satisfaction in the candidates during this election, and asked them to rate their satisfaction on a scale of 1 5 (1 meaning very satisfied and 5 meaning not satisfied). The second two asked whether they perceive their political opinion/vote to be similar or different from their parents (these were yes or no questions). Question 1: How satisfied are you with the choice of candidates in this election?
Most students (36.5%) chose 3, indicating that they were indifferent with the selection of candidates in this election. The percentage of students who chose 1, 2, 4, or 5 was consistently between 15.5% and 18.9% for each; however, the percentage of students who noted that they were not satisfied with the choice of candidates was at the high end of that range. Question 2: How satisfied are you in the candidate that you chose? Once again, the highest percentage of students (34.5%) chose 3, indicating that they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their chosen candidate. However, for this question, the next highest response (<5%) was 1, indicating that students are still generally more satisfied in their chosen candidate than with the choices in this election. Question 3: Do you think that your views are different from your parents? Yes No # of votes 73 75 49.3% 50.7% The results to this question were split evenly, with a marginal majority favoring students who perceive their views to be the same as their parents (0.7%). Question 4: Do you think that you will vote for the same candidate as your parents? Yes No # of votes 74 75 49.7% 50.3% The results to this question are consistent with Question 3, although there is a slight shift reducing the marginal majority toward students who perceive their vote to be similar to their parents to 0.3%.
Part II Students were provided a series of categories and asked to identify which issues in each category were important to them. The categories and the issues are listed below. Categories are arranged alphabetically, but the issues are arranged in order of importance (according to students). Each issue is accompanied by the percentage of students who identified it as a major concern. The top 4 issues are highlighted. Business and Economy Unemployment (44.3%) Taxes (40.3%) Minimum Wage (39.6%) Financial Reform (24.2%) Debt Ceiling (16.1%) Civil and Human Rights Gun Control (47%) Women s Rights (46.3%) Racism (42.3%) Gay Rights (36.9%) Abortion (30.2%) Torture (24.8%) Legalizing Marijuana (23.5%) Affirmative Action (13.4%) Education Higher Education (51%) Teacher s Pay (40.9%) Sex Education (27.5%) High Stakes Testing (10.7%) Charter Schools (9.4%) Environment Recycling (48.3%) Renewable Energy (48.3%) Global Warming (45%) Energy Independence (27.5%) Fossil Fuels (24.8%) Nuclear Energy (16.8%) Foreign Policy Terrorism (60.4%) Military and Defense (53%) Immigration (45%) Nuclear Proliferation (12.8%) Health and Welfare Student Loans (59.1%) Veteran s Benefits (46.3%) Social Security (45.6%) Medicare (39.6%) Food Stamps (38.3%) Medicaid (29.5%) Laws and Crime Police Abuse (45%) Hate Crimes (40.9%) Prisons (38.3%) Capital Punishment (22.1%) Campaign Finance Reform (10.7%) Religion Separation of Church and State (23.5%) School Prayer (12.8%) Science and Technology Scientific Discoveries (47.7%) Stem Cell Research (32.9%) Internet Neutrality (29.5%) High Speed Rails (17.4%)