Peggy Johnson wants to grow voters. Valerie Espinoza wants to grow political leaders. Pat Hummer wants to grow poll workers — and get kids to ask their parents some serious questions about why voting matters.

That's why all three are working with other county workers and public-school educators to help students experience what it's like to vote in Santa Fe County. The Bureau of Elections, a division of the County Clerk's Office, is providing a voting machine, voting booths, signs, stickers, and professionals to teach students to be poll workers for Wood Gormley Elementary School's student council election later this week.

"The goal is to get children comfortable with the idea of voting; let them see the process and understand that voting is not as remote as they might think it is," said Johnson, who teachers fifth/sixth grade at Wood-Gormley. "I hope it raises some questions for them to talk over with their parents: 'Do you vote? What's the worst experience you have had voting? How do you decide who to vote for? Why vote?' "

Johnson — who is coordinating the project with fellow teachers Terri Blackman and Susan Yanda — supplements this effort with in-class lessons and activities in which her students research governing bodies and voting procedures around the world.

In the school's Sept. 29 election, seven students are running for president, seven for vice-president, six for treasurer, and four for secretary.

Hummer, election-worker coordinator for the Bureau of Elections (she staffs the polling places during elections and writes training material), will be at Wood-Gormley Monday, Sept. 26 to train fifth- and sixth-graders in poll work.

"We will have a group of students sitting at a table, and one will be in charge of the roster, another in charge of the checklist, another handing out voting permits, another handing out ballots, and we will have a presiding judge and a monitor at the voting machine," Hummer said. She'll also have a greeter on hand to direct visitors to the voting machine.

She's not sure whether candidates, who will not participate in the training, will be outside Wood-Gormley holding campaign signs, kissing babies, and handing out candy — that's not her job.

County Clerk Espinoza said her office initiated this in-school outreach program about six years ago in both Santa Fe and Pojoaque. In addition to providing support to school elections, she often visits classrooms to talk about what the bureau does (mortgages, marriage records, etc.) and the voting process, sometimes using sample ballots to engage students.

"I always ask if they know whether their parents are registered to vote," Espinoza said. "If they are introduced to our elected officials early on and learn about voter responsibility and government, it may spark an interest in them running for office one day — or encourage their parents to vote. If you get to them while they are young, you can turn them into voters. Otherwise, I tell them, there's no room to complain about who gets elected."

Johnson said she hopes she can turn all these students into voters once they turn 18. "That's one of the biggest issues out there — the lack of voters who show up," she said.

According to Denise Lamb, chief deputy clerk at the Bureau of Elections, about 54 percent of registered Santa Fe County voters cast a ballot in the 2006 general election and about 60 percent of them voted in the 2010 general election. Closer to 74 percent took part in 2008 — driven by the presidential election.

Espinoza said her office will be working with other elementary schools, including César Chávez and Chaparral, later this year. Educators interested in this program can call Espinoza at 986-6298.

Contact Robert Nott at 986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com