Ross Gallabrese GRADS VOTE — Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose speaks to students at Steubenville High School during Tuesday's Grads Vote program.

STEUBENVILLE — The results might have been in fun, but the process behind Tuesday’s mock election at Steubenville High School was about teaching students about the importance of voting.

“One of our responsibilities of citizenship is being a voter. If you are not voting, you don’t have much business complaining,” Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose told a group of juniors and seniors while speaking inside the Crimson Center.

LaRose was in town as part of the Grads Vote initiative. Through that program, he travels to schools across the state to allow students to learn about the election process while using actual voting equipment.

The exercise came at a good time — just one week before Ohio voter cast their ballots in the primary election

“It’s simply a chance to get out and make sure high school students learn the voting process by doing it,” LaRose said. “Sometimes, when you meet grownups who don’t vote, maybe they’re in their 20s, 30s or 40s, they say they are intimidated or don’t know what to do. These students don’t have that excuse any more, because they have done it.”

“They have been able to vote on their favorite pizza, their favorite beverage and their favorite NFL team and, of course, that’s for fun,” he added. “What it shows them is how easy it is to be a voter.”

Officials with the Jefferson County Board of Elections set up a polling location inside the gymnasium, and the students had the chance to follow the procedures every voter in Ohio goes through when they go to cast their vote: From checking in and receiving a ballot, to marking the ballot to scanning the ballot.

“What inevitably happens is that after the students vote, they will come to me and get their I Voted Sticker, and they will say, ‘That was easy — there’s nothing to it,'” LaRose explained.

Melinda Young, superintendent of Steubenville City Schools, said the effort is an important teaching tool.

“I think it shows the students how important it is to vote and to have your voice heard,” she said. ‘It’s also nice for our students to be able to meet politicians from the state level.”

LaRose, a Republican, told the students that running elections in Ohio is truly a bipartisan process.

“Every one of Ohio’s 88 county boards of elections is half Democrat and half Republican,” he said. “Members of your county’s board of elections are Republicans and Democrats, and guess what — they like each other. They get along well with each other, and they work well together because they know what their mission is. Their mission is to make sure we have honest and accessible elections, where every voice can be heard.”

That’s what makes the system work — Democrats and Republicans and keeping an eye on each other to make sure that one party doesn’t have an advantage, LaRose explained

“It’s not just at the board of elections,” he added. “When you walk into any polling location, half of the people there who are staffing the location are Democrats, and half are Republicans.”

After the assembly had ended, LaRose said that’s an important message, especially in the wake of the shooting incident that occurred at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C.

“I think we saw a near tragedy on Saturday,” he said. “Unfortunately, that level of anger and vitriol has become all too common. I am a proud Republican, but I also come from a house where my mom was a proud Democrat. We love each other and we can agree to disagree on things. We should be able to have those political debates with our neighbors and our friends and still respect each other and be kind to each other.”

LaRose reminded the students that Ohio offers three ways to cast a ballot: Through early voting at the board of elections, through the mail-in absentee voting process or in person, between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. Mail-in ballots must be returned to the board of elections before 7:30 p.m. Tuesday for them to be counted. Every ballot in Ohio is cast on paper, he added.

“Don’t let anybody tell you it’s not easy to vote,” LaRose explained. “In Ohio, it’s easy to vote and hard to cheat.”

Local election officials said they were happy to be able to participate in the program.

“It really connects the young individuals to the election process,” said Frankie DiCarlantonio, a member of the board of elections. “It shows them what they can expect when they go to the polls. This is a great step for LaRose to show that elections really do have real-world consequences. Although the things they were voting on today are interesting items to them, it shows them how the process works,”

Each vote, LaRose said told the students, is important. He said that every year, there are elections across the state that come down to a single vote. And, should the election result in a tie, the election will end up being decided by a coin flip.

“So, don’t let anyone tell you that one vote doesn’t make a difference,” he said.

LaRose added that students can apply to be poll workers — the minimum age is 17, he said. Working at the polls, he added, provides a really good education about the way elections work.

Exercises like Tuesday’s, while fun, offer powerful lessons.

“It’s about learning by doing, civic education and exposing them to the voting process, and maybe getting some of them to sign up to be election officials by what we call the Youth in the Booth program,” LaRose said.

He added that every year, every high school senior in the state receives a packet that contains information explaining how they can register to vote and become a poll worker.

The students faced some interesting choices when they went to the mock polls. DiCarlo’s earned 40 votes to top a crowded pizza field — there were eight to choose from; the Steelers handily won the favorite NFL team, defeating the Browns 116-34; and Alani topped the drinks with 82 votes, defeating Celsius (51 votes) and Poppi (15 votes.)