Students from 17 schools around the state discovered a new use for the Internet yesterday.
In the largest Internet election ever held, 11,000 students cast their votes for mock Virginia elections.
The event, sponsored by the University's Center for Governmental Studies as part of its Youth Leadership Initiative, included schools from Charlottesville, Albemarle County and several other areas around the state.
Larry J. Sabato, Center director and government and foreign affairs professor, said the event is part of an ongoing initiative to encourage young people to involve themselves in politics.
"Our goal is nothing less than to make politics a part of the rhythm of the year," Sabato said.
Politics should be "part of the student calendar, just the way it is for adults over 18," he said.
The Youth Leadership Initiative is the "signature project of the Center," he added.
Youth Leadership Initiative Director Ken Stroupe said the entire project is "designed to get young people interested in politics and government," and uses projects such as Internet voting to spark the interest of students before they reach voting age.
Stroupe said the project ran smoothly and none of the anticipated glitches materialized.
"It's been enormously successful," he said.
He added that by noon, 10,000 students had participated in the project, making it the largest Internet election ever held.
Fourth-year College student Jonathan Carr assisted with the project at Western Albemarle High School.
"It ran very smoothly," Carr said. "Every student was able to vote ... and all of them seemed to understand" the candidates and issues in the election.
Sabato said he plans to expand the program to the entire state by next November, and include other states around the nation by the 2004 presidential election.
After tallying election results, the Center reported that, in local elections, students gave Sen. Emily Couric, D-Charlottesville, 2,241 votes while her challenger, Jane Maddux (R), received 811. In the 58th District House of Delegates election, Del. Paul Harris (R) garnered 1,143 votes while Ed Wayland (D) received 602 votes from students.
Carr expressed hope for the future of the program.
"The Center is a growing part of the University, and I see no reason why this could not be an even bigger success," he said.
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