Indiana Kids Election

Introduction & Registration

The Indiana Bar Foundation is proud to present Indiana Kids Election, a comprehensive way to both teach students about voting and have them participate in a simulated voting environment. The goal of Ike is to help students understand the role and importance of voting in our democracy. Through our partners at Kids Voting USA and DoubleClick Democracy, we can offer an online ballot and voting system to give students a realistic voting experience. After the election we will be able to provide results for both individual schools and statewide. The Indiana Bar Foundation also has unique lesson plans, created by Indiana teachers, for teaching elections in your classroom.

We are preparing for the 2024 election cycle! Registration for the voting program will be available closer to that time. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to Civic Education Specialist Isaac Harper with any questions regarding Indiana Kids Election!

Lesson Plans

Our friends at iCivics, a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit working to inspire life-long civic engagement by providing high quality and engaging resources to teachers and students across the nation, has provided online educational games and lesson plans to help teachers and students learn about voting.

Cast Your Vote – https://www.icivics.org/games/cast-your-vote

Election Day is coming, are your students prepared to vote? In our completely reimagined Cast Your Vote, students will discover what it takes to become an informed voter — from knowing where they stand on important issues to uncovering what they need to know about candidates.

Voting: Will You Do It?  – www.icivics.org/teachers/lesson-plans/voting-will-you-do-it (Free iCivics registration required to download)

Voting isn’t a requirement, but it is our responsibility and our right. It’s the most direct way that every citizen can influence government, but many citizens just don’t do it. In this lesson, students find out who can vote and the differences in voting by state. They will consider the importance of voting, connect with current issues, and decide for themselves if voting is something they will do.

Voting Matters Activity – www.icivics.org/teachers/lesson-plans/voting-matters-activity (Free iCivics registration required to download)

Your students may be too young to register to vote, but it’s never too early to learn about what it takes to get to the ballot!  This activity is a great way to kick off the election season, and promote voter registration in the larger community.  Students will learn about how registration and voting works in their state, and create a flyer to share with someone in their life. National Voter Registration Day is in late September each year, and has a mission of registering voters across the country.

Got Ballot? – www.icivics.org/teachers/lesson-plans/got-ballot (Free iCivics registration required to download)

Covering everything from referendums to recalls, this lesson takes students to the voting booth and explains what is on a ballot. Middle and high school students will use this activity to discover how voters have the opportunity to initiate change in state and local government.