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Letter to the Editor: Give Donald Trump opportunity to ‘save America as we know it’

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<p>LEHMAN TWP. &#8212; Hillary Clinton won the presidential election on Tuesday with 32 votes.</p><p>Donald Trump received 25 votes.</p><p>The results were read off a polling machine&#8217;s tally tape by Luzerne County Election Director Marisa Crispell and drew cheers and leers from the 57 second-graders who participated in Lehman-Jackson Elementary School&#8217;s mock presidential election.</p><p>The hands-on lesson about the election process gave teachers an opportunity to tie in current events with the school&#8217;s curriculum.</p><p>&#8220;We wanted to bring in &#8216;real world&#8217; experience into the classroom,&#8221; said Reagan Hynick, a second-grade teacher at the school.</p><p>Crispell brought a computerized voting machine into the classroom to show students what their parents do when they vote.</p><p>Three classes filed into the room where Crispell was setting up the voting machine and loading the presidential ballot.</p><p>&#8220;How many of you have gone to vote with your parents?&#8221; Hynick asked the group.</p><p>Less than half raised their hands.</p><p>The students learned that every voter has to register before the election and then sign a book at a designated polling place.</p><p>&#8220;I did not know my parents had to register or fill out papers before voting,&#8221; said 8-year-old Sara Womach.</p><p>Every polling center receives a book of registered voters for that area, Crispell said. The number of electors&#8217; signatures should match the total number of ballots cast through the machines, she said.</p><p>&#8220;We have 180 districts and over 200,000 registered voters,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Crispell explained polling centers could have between two and 10 voting machines. Every polling center has a volunteer in charge of printing a &#8220;zero tape&#8221; from every voting machine before the polls open at 7 a.m. on Nov. 8, she said.</p><p>The &#8220;zero tape&#8221; signifies no votes were placed on the machine, Crispell said.</p><p>&#8220;This (paper print out) is posted at the polling place showing the voting machines received no votes stored before the election starts,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Before voting, the children lined up and took their handmade voting registration cards to a table where they had to sign their name. Then they stood in line for their opportunity to vote.</p><p>The 7- and 8-year-olds discussed which candidate they were going to pick while they waited for their turn.</p><p>Whispers of &#8220;Why are you voting for Trump or Clinton?&#8221; could be heard.</p><p>Kate Hynick, 7, based her decision on the candidate with the nicest personality.</p><p>Alex Smith made his decision on what he saw on the news and conversations his parents had at home.</p><p>Neither Smith or Hynick were willing to share their choice of candidates.</p><p>Betsy DiGiovanni, 7, was surprised to see other names besides Clinton and Trump on the ballot.</p><p>Reagan Hynick said they had discussed the third-party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein in class but not in detail.</p><p>For other students such as Paige Rambus, 7, the opportunity to see a voting machine up close was &#8220;really cool.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I never saw one so close before,&#8221; Rambus said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Marisa Crispell, the election director at the Luzerne Country Election Bureau, helps second-grader Alexa Thompson, 8, vote while other students wait for their turn at Lehman-Jackson Elementary School in Lehman Township on Tuesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_TTL102516Voting1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Marisa Crispell, the election director at the Luzerne Country Election Bureau, helps second-grader Alexa Thompson, 8, vote while other students wait for their turn at Lehman-Jackson Elementary School in Lehman Township on Tuesday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_TTL102516Voting2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Second-grader River Morgan, 7, learns how to vote at Lehman-Jackson Elementary School on Tuesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_TTL102516Voting2-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Second-grader River Morgan, 7, learns how to vote at Lehman-Jackson Elementary School on Tuesday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_TTL102516Voting3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">After 57 second-grade Lehman-Jackson Elementary School students signed up to vote, each one of them was given a sticker to wear. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_TTL102516Voting3-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>After 57 second-grade Lehman-Jackson Elementary School students signed up to vote, each one of them was given a sticker to wear. </caption2><photoCredit2>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Second-graders cast their votes for president</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Eileen Godin</p><p>egodin@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Eileen Godin at 570-991-6387 or on Twitter @TLNews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Lehman-Jackson Elementary mock election names Clinton presidential winner