Nickelodeon's KIDS PICK THE PRESIDENT: Kids Correctly Project Winner of Presidential Election

The kids were right... again. On Oct. 22, Nickelodeon announced that kids had elected President Barack Obama as the winner of the network's 2012 Kids Pick the President "Kids' Vote." Since it began in 1988, kids have now correctly picked the winner (in advance of the national election) six out of the last seven times. More than half a million votes were cast in the network's online poll as part of Nickelodeon's Kids Pick the President initiative to build young citizens' awareness of, and involvement in, the election process. In the "Kids' Vote," President Obama received 65% of the vote and former Governor Mitt Romney received 35%. The voting was limited to one vote per electronic device and kids were able to cast their votes online from Oct. 15 to Oct. 22.

Leading up to the Kids Pick the President online vote, Nickelodeon aired two election-themed Nick News with Linda Ellerbee specials this year, which ranked as the series' highest-rated episodes for 2012 to date. In "Kids Pick the President: The Issues" (Sept. 17), kids nationwide ranked the campaign issues most important to them. "Kids Pick the President: The Candidates" (Oct. 15) provided an opportunity for the two major party U.S. presidential candidates to answer kids' questions. This year's candidate special featured President Obama sitting down with Nick News at the White House to answer kids' questions and previously taped video clips of Romney addressing issues raised by kids. Romney did not participate in the special.

"I'm thrilled so many kids voted," said Ellerbee. "Not only have the kids correctly picked the president before the adults in six out of seven elections in the last 24 years, but the only two candidates who've refused to answer kids' questions have been John Kerry and Mitt Romney. Does that mean anything? You tell me. Better yet, tell the kids."

Nick.com served as the official home base of the Kids Pick the President campaign, attracting almost a million visitors and generating more than 2.9 million page views since launch on Aug. 7. Kids have flocked to the site to discuss the general election on its message board and Nick.com/kpp ranked as the most popular page on the site in October (Source: Omniture SiteCatalyst, 8/7/2012-10/21/2012).

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