Local Elections : Mock Election in Schools Reflects Regional Politics

Reflecting the attitudes of their parents and Ventura County’s political tilt, east county students voted a slate of Republicans into office while west county pupils favored Democrats in a mock election of candidates on Tuesday’s ballot.

Likewise, emotionally charged Proposition 187, which would deny public education and most public health and social services to illegal immigrants, easily won in the east but lost nearly 2-to-1 in the west.

Because some students took sample ballots home before Thursday’s balloting, school officials said the pupils’ votes may reflect their parents’ views.

“A lot of this might be from the parents,” said Bill Kidig, a history teacher at Matilija Junior High School in Ojai. “So it may be a precursor of what’s to come.”

About 3,400 students from 11 local schools voted Wednesday and Thursday as part of a nationwide student election sponsored by the nonprofit National Student/Parent Mock Election organization.

Pupils in grades three through 12 participated, voting not only on the high-profile state offices and issues, but for school boards and city councils.

“I feel that it’s the (students’) responsibility to pay attention to the issues, so when they become of legal age, they’ll know what to vote for,” said Derek Stafford, 13, an eighth-grader at Sequoia Junior High School in Simi Valley.

And on Thursday the students spoke clearly--although often in the voices of their parents. Voter registration in the east county is heavily Republican, but largely Democratic in the west.

So if west county students were deciding Tuesday’s election, Kathleen Brown would be governor, Dianne Feinstein returned as U.S. senator, Kevin Ready a new congressman--and Proposition 187 a memory.

But east county pupils would have given Pete Wilson a second term, Michael Huffington six years in the Senate and returned Rep. Elton Gallegly to Washington for a fifth term. They would have passed Proposition 187.

“This is like making believe that we are grown-ups and that we have a say,” said 10-year-old Olga Juarez after she voted at Oxnard’s Cesar Chavez School. “Through the election, I learned how important it is to be sure that you are voting for the right person.”

There were 2,293 west county student voters at eight schools in Fillmore, Ojai, Oxnard and Ventura. There were at least 1,120 student voters in the east county in Moorpark and Simi Valley.

Of the major ballot propositions, students countywide agreed on two: nearly 71% thought it was a good idea to put criminals with three felony convictions behind bars for 25 years to life under a “three-strikes” measure.

And nearly two-thirds rejected Proposition 188, the smoking measure backed by the tobacco industry.

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Proposition 187, the illegal immigration measure, lost in the west, 1,449 to 832, but won in the east, 623 to 493. Proposition 186, which establishes a statewide health system, was much closer, narrowly losing in the west but winning in the east.

Brown was elected governor by 66% of students at west county schools, while Wilson won 55% of the vote in the east. Feinstein defeated Huffington by six percentage points in the west, but lost by 16 points in the east. Ready won by 10 points in the west, but Gallegly took 80% of the vote in the east.

At Fillmore High School, John Wilber, an American government teacher, spent three weeks preparing his students by discussing ballot issues and bringing candidates into the classroom.

“I wanted to make sure they understood what it means to vote and how important that is in this society,” Wilber said. “I want them to be able to take advantage of the democratic system that we have in this country.”

Beany Venegas, a senior at Fillmore High, said the preparation helped him select the right candidates.

“We are the future and this mock election gave us a wonderful opportunity to learn about the voting process and what it means,” Venegas said. “It helped me to decide that Brown would make a better governor than Wilson and that Proposition 187 is unconstitutional.” At Moorpark High, where officials said discussions on Proposition 187 degenerated into heated arguments and even a fist fight, students approved the initiative, 424 to 301, teacher Guy Aronoff said.

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But Jose Mendez, 17, a senior who plans to major in studio arts and Chicano studies in college, said he opposed the measure because it wrongly casts illegal immigrants as scapegoats for state budget shortfalls.

“It’s a problem,” he said of illegal immigration, “but these aren’t the steps to take.”

Liz Wilczek, 13, an eighth-grader at Sequoia Junior High, said she voted for Proposition 187, “because I think illegal immigration is a big problem, and I don’t think anybody is trying to deal with it yet.” At De Anza Middle School in Ventura, congressional challenger Ready stomped incumbent Gallegly. But then, Kevin Ready’s son, Ken, is an eighth-grader at De Anza.

The similarity between their names confused some students, teacher Carol Cook said.

“They were confused because they were saying, ‘It’s Ken Ready.’ I said, ‘No, it’s not Ken running.’ ”

Unlike high school and junior high students, many elementary school children said they were overwhelmed with voting, and sometimes had to depend on their teachers for advice.

“It’s really confusing,” said distressed sixth-grader Griselda Munguia, as she voted at Cesar Chavez School. “All I know is that Proposition 187 is wrong because we won’t be able to go to school and our parents won’t be able to work.”

Times correspondent Maia Davis contributed to this article.