Kids Pick the President
Kids Pick the President is a series of specials produced by the Nickelodeon TV network, organized around a mock election to determine children's choice for the President of the United States. Since 1988, Kids Pick the President has accurately predicted the winner of each election with the exceptions of the 2004 and 2016 presidential elections.
History
The specials began in 1988 as part of a yearly "Kids Vote" election-related coverage, in part as a way to encourage children in Nickelodeon's audience to become engaged in the political process, and partly for comedic value.[1][2]
The 1992 election was sponsored by Target Corporation, and promoted by newspaper advertisements. Children voted in-person at Target's stores, which were used as polling stations.[3]
In the 1996 election, conducted by televote, children picked Bill Clinton over Bob Dole and Ross Perot.[4]
In the 2000 poll, 400,000 people participated via an
In 2004, Nickelodeon promoted the event with
In 2008, 2.2 million people participated in the event.
In 2012 Obama won with 65% of the vote over Republican challenger
In 2016, Nickelodeon's poll conducted 3 candidates: Republican Donald Trump, Democrat Hillary Clinton, and Libertarian Gary Johnson. Nickelodeon only offered information on the Democratic and Republican nominees. It was the first election since Ellerbee's retirement, and this was reflected in coverage which was seen less on Nickelodeon than in the past, with the results offered in a short feature during a Saturday night 'theme night' revolving around elections in episodes of the network's sitcom block. Clinton was the winner, with 53 percent of the vote; Trump received 36 percent while Johnson received 11 percent; this would be the second time the kids vote would not match the winner of the general election.[11]
In 2020, Nickelodeon's poll was conducted between Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden. The results of the poll was announced during a one-hour Nick News special titled Nick News: Kids Pick the President hosted by Keke Palmer and simulcast on Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, and TeenNick on October 27.[12][13] Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen voiced her disapproval with the children's network for leaving her off the poll and stated they were "complicit in indoctrinating our children that there are only 2 parties".[14] On October 21, the network detected cheating, when threads on online forums began discussing corrupting the Kids Pick the President site with fraudulent votes. Eventually, more than 130,000 bot-generated votes were detected and Nickelodeon utilized a voter certification tool to identify these counterfeit votes and to remove them, ensuring that only individually placed votes counted toward the total. Biden won the poll with 53% of the vote, followed by Trump with 47%.[15]
Table of elections
Democratic candidate Republican candidate Independent candidate Reform candidate Libertarian candidate Presidential election winner
Year | Winner | Runners-up | Ref. | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Candidate | Vote percentage | Candidate | Vote percentage | Candidate | Vote percentage | ||
1988 | H. W. Bush | 51% | Dukakis | 49% | — | [16] | |
1992 | B. Clinton | 38% | H. W. Bush | 37.9% | Perot | 24% | [17] |
1996 | B. Clinton | 45% | Dole | 37% | Perot | 18% | [4] |
2000 | W. Bush | 55% | Gore | 45% | — | [17] | |
2004 | Kerry | 57% | W. Bush | 43% | — | [8] | |
2008 | Obama | 51% | McCain | 49% | — | [1] | |
2012 | Obama | 65% | Romney | 35% | — | [9] | |
2016 | H. Clinton | 53% | Trump | 36% | Johnson | 11% | [11] |
2020 | Biden | 53% | Trump | 47% | — | [15] |
Other children's elections
The "Scholastic Election" has been conducted by Scholastic Corporation Scholastic News every election year since 1940. It claims to have predicted the final election results correctly with three exceptions: Harry S. Truman's win over Thomas E. Dewey in the 1948 United States presidential election, John F. Kennedy's win over Richard Nixon in the 1960 United States presidential election, and Donald Trump's win over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 United States presidential election.[18][19]
Mock elections also take place in school classrooms, as part of a
References
- ^ a b c d e "Nickelodeon viewers 'vote' for Obama". United Press International. 2008-10-21.
- ^ Cathleen Schine (1988-10-30). "From Lassie to Pee-Wee". New York Times.
- ^ "Kids get a chance to vote". St. Petersburg Times. 1992-10-06.
- ^ a b "Kids Vote to Re-Elect Clinton". Daily Courier. 1996-10-29.
- ^ Jim Rutenberg (2000-10-18). "When the Children Vote". New York Times.
- ^ a b Lynn Smith (2004-10-16). "Candidates decline Nick kids". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ a b Kathryn Shattuck (2004-05-09). "A Backyard Bluesfest with Talent Front and Center". New York Times.
- ^ a b "Kids pick Kerry to be the next president". China Daily News. 2004-10-21.
- ^ a b c Obama Wins By A Landslide - In Kids' Online Poll. Sky News. 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ^ "Feathers fly at Nickelodeon". Washington Post. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
- ^ a b "Hillary Clinton is the Winner of Nickelodeon's Kids Pick the President "Kids' Vote"". Yahoo!. 2016-11-05. Archived from the original on 2016-11-06. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
- ^ Alexandra Del Rosario (October 20, 2020). "Nickelodeon Launches 'Kids' Vote' Poll & Voting Special Ahead Of November Election; Keke Palmer Set To Host". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
- ^ "Nickelodeon Lets Kids' Voices Be Heard This Election Season with Return of Bellwether "Kids' Vote" Poll and Brand-New "Nick News: Kids Pick the President" Special Hosted by Keke Palmer" (Press release). Nickelodeon. Retrieved October 27, 2020 – via The Futon CriticOctober 20, 2020.
- ^ Ruiz, Michael (October 28, 2020). "Libertarian candidate Jorgensen snaps at Nickelodeon for leaving her off 2020 elections graphic". Fox News. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
- ^ a b Alexandra Del Rosario (October 27, 2020). "Joe Biden Wins Nickelodeon's Kids' Vote Poll Despite Bot Interference". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
- ^ Kenneth R. Clark (1988-11-08). "KIDS' POLL GIVES IT TO BUSH, SQUEAKILY". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ a b Philip Bump (2016-09-08). "It turns out that little kids aren't actually all that good at predicting election results". Washington Post.
- ^ "Obama wins Scholastic kids vote election". United Press International. 2008-10-14.
- ^ Rousselle, Christine. "Here's Who Scholastic's Mock Election Says Will Win In November--And It Hasn't Been Wrong in 50 Years".
- ^ "Tennessee students vote to re-elect President Trump in mock election". WCYB. October 30, 2020. Retrieved November 1, 2020.