Nearly a dozen students in Dr. Kathy Morrison’s American Democracy and Citizenship classes at Missouri State University-West Plains saw democracy in action first hand when they served as deputy clerks and election judges in area counties during the Nov. 6 general election.

Through this service-learning project, the students gained a better understanding of the country’s election process through the various tasks they were assigned. These included directing voters to the proper check-in lines at the polls, helping voters fill out change-of-address forms, reminding voters to have their IDs ready and, in some instances, counting ballots.

“This has been an extremely successful project,” Morrison said. “It not only benefits the individual student, but also our county clerks by providing workers at the polls on election day. Any time we can get our students out of the classroom and into an actual experience with government, it is a positive.”

Morrison has offered this project to students every election year since 2006.