Youth
Leadership Initiative
Over 400,000 Votes Cast in Youth
Leadership Initiative's Mock Constitutional Convention
Nearly a half million votes on possible Constitutional amendments were cast
by student in schools across the nation during October. Since Constitution
Day in September students participating in the Center for Politics’ National
Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI) have been studying the U.S. Constitution
and the processes by which Constitutional change occurs in the United
States.
The lessons culminated in the nation's largest, student-only, online mock
Constitutional Convention, where students used the YLI online balloting
system to vote on a series of potential amendments to the Constitution. YLI
offered supporting lesson plans on topics such as congressional
redistricting, holding a constitutional fair, amending the Constitution, and
extending House terms. Students in Louisiana and Mississippi also had the
opportunity to vote for their state's governor, and in addition, YLI offered
a lesson comparing the gubernatorial candidates in both of those states.
The Youth Leadership Initiative is the largest program of the University of
Virginia's Center for Politics. YLI resources are free for K-12 educators,
who are encouraged to visit the YLI website for more information about how
to sign up and become a part of a greater effort to increase civic
understanding and participation among the nation's youth.
The results of the student voting are below.
*initiatives that passed are highlighted in green
| Elementary Referendum - K to 5th Grade | Yea Vote% | Nay Vote% |
| Any U.S. citizen who is 35 years of age or older and has lived in the country for twelve years or more should be allowed to run for the Office of President, even if they were born outside of the U.S. | 42.21% |
57.79% |
| A term in the U.S. House of Representatives should last for three years instead of two years. | 39.15% |
60.85% |
| U.S. Supreme Court Justices should serve for a set number of years instead of for life terms. | 39.50% |
60.50% |
| The Electoral College should be eliminated and the President of the United States should be elected by popular vote only. | 50.40% |
49.60% |
| After graduating from high school or college, U.S. citizens should be legally required to serve their country for a minimum of two years by teaching, serving in the military, or participating in a civic service program. | 52.40% |
47.60% |
| Secondary Referendum - 6th to 12th Grade | Yea Vote% | Nay Vote% |
| The U.S. Constitution should limit the President's ability to commit to military action by first requiring congressional consent. | 25.82% |
74.18% |
| The President should be able to remove the parts of a bill that he does not support without vetoing the entire piece of legislation. | 60.54% |
39.46% |
| Any U.S. citizen who is 35 years of age or older and has lived in the country for twelve years or more should be allowed to run for the Office of President, even if they were born outside the United States. | 54.85% |
45.15% |
| States with medium and large populations should be given extra representation in the U.S. Senate. | 61.45% |
38.55% |
| U.S. congressional districts should be determined by a nonpartisan committee of U.S. citizens appointed by the Supreme Court of each state, instead of by legislators in the United States Congress. | 46.48% |
53.52% |
| A term in the U.S. House of Representatives should last for three years instead of two years. | 56.00% |
44.00% |
| U.S. Supreme Court Justices should serve for a set number of years instead of for life terms. | 36.64% |
63.36% |
| Federal judges should be required to retire at 75 years of age. | 44.59% |
55.41% |
| A schedule of dates for state primaries should be determined by a regional lottery instead of by each individual state, as is the current practice. | 56.78% |
43.22% |
| The Electoral College should be eliminated and the President of the United States should be elected by popular vote only. | 48.46% |
51.54% |
| Every candidate running for U.S. President should receive an equal amount of federal tax dollars to use on their campaign and should not be allowed to use their own money. | 42.75% |
57.25% |
| U.S. citizens should be registered automatically to vote upon turning 18 years of age. | 25.03% |
74.97% |
| After graduating from high school or college, U.S. citizens should be legally required to serve their country for a minimum of two years by teaching in an area of need, serving in the military, or participating in a civic service program. | 74.86% |
25.14% |
The YLI Mock Election and YLI Mock Constitutional Convention are academic
exercises. These exercises do not represent a true random sample of public
opinion among America's K-12 student population and are therefore not
designed or intended to be predictive of the results of a general election
or convention.
