The students have voted.

Washington K-12 students completed their mock elections Friday on three high-profile state initiatives – I-591, I-594 and  I-1351. More than 18,000 students participated in the mock election this year. Students were able to vote online all week, and the results of the mock-election were published online last Friday.

Secretary of State Kim Wyman said the mock election prepares students to be active in civic life.

“The mock election is a great way to introduce students to voting and why it’s important,” Wyman said. “I hope every Washington student will graduate with the skills to fully engage in our democracy, and have the passion and commitment to do so. Voting is a key part of it.”

The students voted on two gun law initiatives and one education initiative, as well as their district representative.

Initiative 591, if passed, would prohibit government agencies from confiscating guns or other firearms from citizens without due process, or from requiring background checks on firearm recipients unless a uniform national standard is required.

I-594 would apply currently used criminal public safety background checks by licensed dealers to all firearm sales and transfers if it passes. I-1351 would allocate funds to reduce class sizes and increase staff support for K-12 students, especially in high-poverty schools.

Results

Students did not pass I-591, 45.22 percent yes to 54.78 percent no. The majority of Bonney Lake students who participated in the mock elections, however, supported the initiative.

Students did pass I-594 with 68.59 percent yes and 31.41 percent no.

Students also managed to pass I-1351 with 51.3 percent yes and 48.7 percent no.

The majority of Bonney Lake students in the mock elections also supported both I-594 and I-1351.

Bonney Lake students also supported re-electing R-Dave Reichert with 66.67 percent of the vote going to him and 33.33 percent of the vote going to D-Jason Ritchie.

Wyman said that it will be interesting to compare how students vote to legal voters. Last year, students passed the genetic engineering label Initiative 522 with 62 percent while adults rejected the initiative.

“It’s always interesting to see how students vote on key initiatives and key races and whether they vote the same way as the adults,” Wyman said. “This is another reason why the Mock Election is fun.”