Mock election teaches students civic duty

BLUFF CITY — Students at Sullivan East High School practiced their future civic duty with a mock election. Through the Tennessee Secretary of State's Office, schools across the state host mock elections where students can fill out a ballot and find out how their "votes" counted. The mock election at East was coordinated by the school's Jobs for America's Graduates (JAG) program. "It is an honor to host the mock elections at Sullivan East. It's a great time to teach students about civic responsibility," said JAG teacher Tiffany Sweeney. When a school signs up to participate, they have access to civics lesson plans related to the voting process and items such as "I Voted" stickers and mock ballots. After East students lined up, filled out their ballots and recorded their votes, the school-wide results for the gubernatorial and U.S. senate races were shared. Per East student votes, Marsha Blackburn beat Jerri Green for governor with a 52-46 vote margin, and Bill Hagerty took the win over Marquita Bradshaw with a 58-41 vote margin. The mock election results for both races were close, despite Sullivan County being a majority Republican area. The mock election is open to students across the state, whether public, private or homeschooled. It is a non-partisan, educational initiative designed to give students a hands-on learning experience about civic engagement and the electoral process. The mock election encourages students to become engaged citizens as adults. 43,744 students from 168 schools across the state participated in the presidential mock election in 2024. Schools had to submit their mock election results to the state by Oct. 28.