Children cast votes for fictional characters at a Lisbon polling station
Children who accompanied their parents to a polling station in Lisbon during Portugal’s presidential election on Sunday were allowed to vote in an activity separate from the official contest, according to the Associated Press.
Instead of appearing on the ballot for the presidential runoff, the children voted for characters featured on a separate ballot paper. Popular fictional characters such as Super Mario and Roblox were listed there, and parents said they hoped the exercise would help teach their children about democracy and civic participation.
The AP reported that the Lisbon polling station offered children their say on who the best character was, in what it described as a first of its kind in a Portuguese election and not a common practice elsewhere. In the mock vote, the ballot instructed children to “Vote for your favorite character.”
Catarina Barbosa, the mother of Artur, an 8-year-old, told AP she believed the activity would be educational. She said, “I always like to bring him to encourage him, so that when he is 18 he doesn’t stay on the couch and also comes to vote,” and she added that the mock vote was “fun because this way he also feels he is voting and fulfilling his civic duties.”
Artur told AP he recognized the characters that were included on the ballot paper for the children’s mock election. The AP also reported that João Dias, the father of 9-year-old João and 11-year-old Carolina, encouraged his children to cast their votes.
Dias said it was important for children to begin understanding the responsibility that comes with voting. He told AP: “It’s important for children to start to understand, when they’re younger, the responsibility, so that when they reach adulthood they can understand not only their rights but also their duties.”