MEDIA RELEASE: Secretary Pate to conduct Iowa Youth Straw Poll on January 28

DES MOINES – Six days before Iowans participate in the Iowa Caucuses, thousands of students across the state will make their voices heard in Secretary of State Paul Pate’s Iowa Youth Straw Poll. Students will vote for their preferred candidates for President, U.S. Senate and U.S. House on Tuesday, January 28.

“We want to get students excited about voting and civic engagement and I think the results will be very interesting with the straw poll taking place so close to the caucuses,” Secretary Pate said. “Historically, the Youth Straw Poll has been a pretty good indicator of the state of the races at that point.”

The top vote-getters in the Fall Youth Straw Poll in the presidential race were Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.

The Iowa Youth Straw Poll is a hands-on educational experience designed to inspire civic engagement. Every public school, private school, homeschool student and youth group in the state is invited to participate. Presidential and congressional candidates were asked to provide a short video with a personalized message for Iowa students.

The videos are available on the Elections 101 website and on Secretary Pate’s YouTube page.

Students, teachers, and organizations can register for the Iowa Youth Straw Poll by clicking here. A full list of schools that have already registered is available at this link. Teachers and students are encouraged to post photos of their Youth Straw Poll activities on social media, utilizing the #BeAVoter hashtag.

An audio clip from Secretary Pate is available for your use at this link.

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