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6-year-old boy crafts homemade voting booth for kids
Mac Mayer from Asheville, North Carolina set up his own voting booth in his driveway to give kids a chance to participate in this year’s election.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - A 6-year-old boy from Asheville, North Carolina is making sure that he and his fellow kids have their voices heard in the 2020 election.
When Mac Mayer overheard his parents discussing the election, he immediately asked why kids aren’t able vote. After learning that only Americans over the age 18 can vote, Mac asked his parents if he could set up his own voting booth in the driveway to give kids a chance to participate in this year’s election.
With a little help from his parents, Mac transformed his art table into a materials station and also set up a separate table with a privacy wall, made out of sturdy cardboard, for the “voting” process. Mac made sure that the materials station had a ballot box and even separate buckets for “clean” and “dirty” pens, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In less than an hour, Mac was out on his driveway ready to have his fellow kids cast their symbolic votes.
Chelsea Mayer, Mac’s mother, heard from a few parents that the ballots had more than just the Democratic and Republican candidates, which sparked several discussions about voting and politics in their households.
“I heard several kids exclaim over the ‘write-in’ section; it seems that was something they didn’t know existed on grown up ballots!” Chelsea said. “I also overheard another child convince his friend to vote, saying ‘you have to vote, it’s your duty!’”
The experience was also thrilling for children who were disappointed they could not vote with their parents.
“He’s always been a kid that doesn’t like to be excluded because he is a kid, so being able to help include him in this important process was really awesome,” Chelsea added. “We were both overjoyed to watch him take action on something he felt passionate about, and we really hope that he continues to do that, whether it be about politics or something else!”