Louisiana's Old State Capitol, the Center for Political and Governmental History continues to serve as the official State Election Headquarters for the National Student/Parent Mock Election. This is especially momentous as we celebrate the 150th birthday of the Old State Capitol.

The 2000 National Student/Parent Mock Election is set for November 2, 2000. "Ballots not Bullets ... Votes, Not Violence" builds on the theme from 1996 National Student Parent Mock Election. This theme continues to fulfill the Old State Capitol's mission to provide today's younger generation a chance to learn that their POWER is not through violence, but through the American democratic process.

The National Student/Parent Mock Election allows students in grades K-12 to personally execute their voting privileges by casting their vote for the office of President, U. S. Representatives and on key national and local issues. An additional focus for 2000 will be to provide students with the "skills" and avenues that can be used to express their views and opinions to their elected representatives.

In 1996, over 500,000 Louisiana students participated in the National Mock Election. In 2000, we anticipate over 750,000 registrants in this free program. In late August, the Old State Capitol will distribute to all public and nonpublic schools general information as well as registration forms and teacher resource guides reflecting the State of Louisiana's benchmarks. [The downloadable resource guide is an Adobe PDF document and requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader plug-in.]