Guest speakers Brandi Orth, the County Clerk Registerer of Voters and Robert Bergstrom, Manager of the voting office, came to Robert Foshee’s civics classes to explain the process of voting, Sept. 26. Their presentation consisted of an interactive voting process, visual charts and an explanation as to how the voting process works.
Though Foshee was expecting Bergstrom to visit his classes, he was unaware of Orth also coming along. Orth was able to give an inside look into the voting process and add to students study of polls.
“We came prepared to give further knowledge of the voting process to the students,” Orth said. “Our focal points are why you register to vote, how you register and that each individual vote does, in fact, matter.”
The presentation was very interactive and allowed the students to get the general feel for the voting process. Orth and Bergstorm took turns explaining what the system provides for the USA today.
“The system of voting is a little bit more involved than most people think; our goal is to express the value of each individuals vote and encourage the youth to better understand the process,” Orth said. “We dissect the process from why we vote initially, the registration, the polling places, to what the voting sheets are like and how they are counted.”
There were a series of facts listed on charts as well as a mock voting experience that the students were able to participate in. The presentation covered the basic and more complex questions about voting.
“Our job is to give a thorough explanation of how the process works, and we have seen that this works best when the students are invested and interacting with us,” Orth said. “One of the more interesting things we do is a student election, which is kind of a practice election for the students to get a feel for voting, they receive a sticker at the end, so it’s kind of fun.”
Senior Viviana Hinojosa enjoyed the mock vote because she was able to see how the machines calculate the statistics. She also was able to get a glimpse as to what a ballot looks like.
“It was very interesting to see how the voting process works,” Hinojosa said. “We got a look into all the behind the scenes stuff that goes on. It’s amazing how fast they are able to get the results of the ballots by using a simple machine. I’m really glad I was able to learn about the polling process.”
Both Bergstorm and Orth were eager to come to Fresno Christian and share their presentation with the students. They also encourage the students to get invested now.
“Well first off the big step is to be informed about the process and understand why we vote, also to register to vote at the age of eighteen,” Bergstorm said. “We were really looking forward to coming today because it is always exciting to share and inform the youth of America.”
Students, such as Annalise Rosik, ’14, had a good take away from the presentation given by Orth and Bergstorm.
“I thought the presentation was really well put together; they had a lot of information to share,” Rosik. “I think our voting process is rather interesting, I am glad they came to our school to explain everything to us.”
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For more features, read the Sept. 26 article, ClovisFest hosts 39th annual event, flies hot air balloons (VIDEO).
