Lisbon. An interesting scene was seen at the polling stations in the presidential elections held on Sunday in Portugal. Children who arrived at a polling station with their parents were also given the opportunity to vote. However, the names of the real candidates were not on their ballot papers. Special ballots designed for children featured the names of popular fictional characters such as Super Mario and Roblox. Parents said they hoped the exercise would give children an opportunity to learn about democracy. A polling station in the capital Lisbon took this unique initiative for children, so that the first lesson of democracy can be taught not through books but through experience.
According to media reports, such an experiment was done for the first time during elections in Portugal and has not been done in any other country in the world. It was written on the ballot paper made for children, vote for your favorite character. The mother of an eight-year-old child described it as a good learning experience for her son. She said she always brings him along to encourage him. She wants that when he turns 18, he should not sit on the sofa at home but should definitely go to vote. It’s funny because in this way he also feels that he is voting and fulfilling his responsibility as a citizen.
