DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate will oversee the voting as 4,000 FFA members from high schools across Iowa participate in the Spring 2018 Iowa Youth Straw Poll on Monday. The students will cast their ballots during the annual FFA State Leadership Conference, held at Hilton Coliseum in Ames. The voting will take place at 3:45 p.m. on Monday.

"I'm thrilled to partner with FFA to give its members a hands-on experience in the voting process," Secretary Pate said. "This will be a fun exercise for them and a chance to make their voices heard in the primary races for Governor and U.S. Congress."

Thousands of other students across the state will cast their votes in the Iowa Youth Straw Poll on Tuesday. A full list of the schools that participating is available at Elections101.org/BeAVoter.

Secretary Pate asked each gubernatorial and congressional candidate to provide a short video message to Iowa's youth. Schools participating in the Youth Straw Poll are encouraged to play the videos prior to students casting their ballots. All the candidate videos are available on the Iowa Secretary of State's You Tube page.

Many of the students participating in the Iowa Youth Straw Poll this year will be eligible to vote in the 2018 elections.

Secretary Pate won the 2016 National State Boards of Education Award for Outstanding Leadership in Voter Education for his work in organizing the Iowa Youth Straw Polls and Iowa Youth Caucus. The Iowa Youth Straw Poll is a component of Elections 101, a free online curriculum developed by Secretary Pate and written by Iowa teachers for Iowa students. The curriculum is available at Elections101.org.

Students, teachers, and organizations are still able to register for the Iowa Youth Straw Poll by clicking here.

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