I am extremely happy that Ben Cayetano has won the governor's race against Linda Lingle. I think that Ben is going to do a good job to repair our economy. Voting had its rewards
and disappointmentsPaul Oshiro has also won the state representative race. He has served the Ewa Beach community well in the past and hopefully, he will do better these next four years.
-- Jacqueline Lucas, Ilima Intermediate, 8th grade
I wish Linda Lingle could have won the governorship because it really seemed like she could make a difference.
Ben Cayetano is doing a good job, but I think Lingle could have done better. She probably would have thought of kids before anyone else. She should try again in 2002.
-- Mallori Carinio, Ilima Intermediate, 8th grade
I thought that kids voting was pretty cool. It gave kids a chance to see what their parents do every two years, and what some of the issues were.
It was a firsthand experience for us. My brother was really excited to go and vote. He's only 11 years old.
I wanted Linda Lingle to win, but I guess Ben Cayetano just had too many supporters. I didn't like what Cayetano stood for on some of the issues.
-- Nikki Pagan, Pearl City High School, 11th grade
It was good to have the feeling of voting and to feel good that you voted for the person you believed in.
I voted for Ben Cayetano on the Kid's Voting ballot and I'm glad he won.
-- Bryson Higa, Pearl City High School, 9th grade
Submitted by Matt Fuller, Iolani School, 12th grade
I loved voting. I wished more kids had voted so that bigger numbers would have shown in the results.I believe they should have more Kid Voting opportunities because it makes us kids feel important.
I was shocked about the governor race results. I thought more people wanted a change. I guess they don't because Ben Cayetano won again.
-- Kuuipo Naehu, Pearl City High School, 11th grade
Kids Voting probably had a good turn-out, so I think the voting age should be lowered. Election Day is a holiday anyway, so why not make use of it and let the kids vote.
Kids should have a say in what goes on too.
-- Jordan Lee, Pearl City High School, 11th grade
Participating in the Kids Voting Hawaii program was worthwhile. I volunteered for four hours and found it to be very enjoyable.
I swear I could see the twinkle in some kids' eyes when they handed me their ballots.
The teen-agers that voted didn't seem to enjoy it as much.
The only problem was that there were only two voting booths, so a line formed really fast.
As for the governor's race results, I didn't expect Ben Cayetano to have won over Linda Lingle. Like a lot of voters, I really thought she was going to win.
I guess we will have the Democratic party running our state for yet another year.
-- Charlene Fajardo, Pearl City High School, 11th grade
The final Kids Voting Hawaii candidate results echoed the adult vote: THE RESULTS
GOVERNOR
Cayetano/Hirono: 39,415 (56 percent)
U.S. SENATE
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE 1
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE 2
A majority of students said they do feel safe at school, but a
cartoon submitted by Ryan Santiago, an 11th grader at Pearl
City High School, tells another story.
MAUI MAYOR
KAUAI MAYOR
THE ISSUE RESULTS
1. Do you feel that school is preparing you for the future?
2. Should juveniles be tried as adults for adult crimes?
3. Should the student representative on the Board of Education have voting rights on the board?
4. Should the driving age be raised from 15 to 18 years old?
5. Should it be unlawful for adults to smoke in confined areas with children under the age of 18 years old?
6. Do you feel safe at school?
7. Should a doctor be able to assist a terminally ill patient in taking his/her own life?
8. Cock fighting is illegal in Hawaii. Should it also be illegal to be a spectator at a cock fight?
9. Do you believe that there is a connection between people who are cruel to animals and people who are violent to humans?
KIDS VOTING MESSAGE
By Lyla BergALOHA kids! Congratulations! We did it! Hawaii will be talking about KIDS VOTING for a long time! Last Tuesday, youth and adults -- together -- made it possible for about 71,000 young people to experience voting. Mahalo, we’ll
see you in 2000Out of a total population of about 221,000 school-age youth in public, private and home schools, more than one-third came out to show their democratic spirit. There can be no question, judging by the number of youth who came to the polls, that voting is important for youth.
The KIDS VOTING staff will be providing the schools with an evaluation report regarding the election as soon as all the evaluations by teachers and students have been received.
Based on the information, it seems that the turnout of young people in the 4th grade, statewide, was the highest. In terms of gender, 53 percent of the votes cast came from girls, and 47 percent of votes came from boys. In some schools, young voter participation was as high or higher than participation among registered adult voters in that area!
We want to say mahalo nui loa to everyone who participated. Our title sponsor American Savings Bank and other donors, the election officials and the Office of Elections Rotarians statewide and the hundreds of volunteers, students, teachers and families who made Election Day '98 an incredible success.
We are already beginning preparations for the presidential election in the year 2000. Be sure and continue to check the KIDS VOTING HAWAII web site kids votinghawaii.org regularly for information on upcoming activities, opportunities to participate and new ideas on how to keep KIDS VOTING energy strong.
On behalf of the KIDS VOTING HAWAII Board of Directors, we are honored to be part of
Lyla Berg, Ph.D., is the executive director for Kids Voting Hawaii. For information about Kids Voting, call 523-VOTE (8683), or on neighbor islands call 1-(877)-543-VOTE.
If you have a KIDS VOTING story, please share it! Mail it to Kids Voting Hawaii, 816 Ekoa Place, Honolulu, HI 96821; fax it to (808)-373-4857; or e-mail it to kvh@pixi.com. It ain't over yet!
