Children aren't legally allowed to vote in Presidential elections, but every four years the children's channel Nickelodeon gives its viewers a chance to voice their opinion in their "Kids Pick The President" straw poll.
Though the results of the vote have little bearing on the outcome of the election, the poll is a tradition that lets kids voice their opinion on who should be running the country.
This year, however, the poll ran into some online troubles as pro-Trump trolls attempted to hijack the vote using bots.
Nickelodeon's "Kids Pick The President" poll getting hit by bots trying to sway a NICKELODEON thing is the most dep… https://t.co/ZWw3CpMTCJ— julia alexander (@julia alexander) 1603841823.0
"...threads on online forums began discussing corrupting the Kids Pick the President site with fraudulent votes..." shut it down, folks.— julia alexander (@julia alexander) 1603841897.0
A bunch of adults trying to hack into a children's online straw poll may seem sad, but it's even more pathetic when you find out their attempts were unsuccessful.
Several 4chan threads tried to get people to bombard Nickelodeon's Kids Pick the President poll with votes for Trum… https://t.co/FQwktdLMDy— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1603841936.0
Trump still lost the poll.— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1603842046.0
Despite an army of bots descending on the poll, Biden still won the vote 53% to 47%.
Good news=Nickelodeon caught the bots! Bad news=I suddenly worry about the polls again. It could explain that recen… https://t.co/IXyHcPzrVC— Heidi Janet Wright (@Heidi Janet Wright) 1603898193.0
Nickelodeon has their yearly kids poll. They have been right the majority of the elections! Kids know what is right! https://t.co/Wp0jdb8dTG— DonaMcCann (@DonaMcCann) 1603888574.0
The kids are alright https://t.co/GoMFnAWUfo— April “Pinkie” Davis (@April “Pinkie” Davis) 1603851783.0
Apparently Nickelodeon detected suspicious behavior surrounding the poll and ended up deleting more than 130,000 bot-generated botes.
Got a work email about this- apparently bots tried to influence the Kid's Pick polls. The....kids....pick...polls..… https://t.co/OPxAmBDq8r— April “Pinkie” Davis (@April “Pinkie” Davis) 1603894526.0
When you can't win the general election so you have to bot a nickelodeon poll for little kids https://t.co/CGowDCgISs— Todd 🏳️🌈↙️↙️↙️🦉 (@Todd 🏳️🌈↙️↙️↙️🦉) 1603854965.0
This is the first time a coordinated bot effort has attempted to interfere with the results of a ‘Kids Pick the Pre… https://t.co/mYv1ZdQhxA— Emily Yahr (@Emily Yahr) 1603895359.0
Unfortunately for Trump's supporters, the kids have spoken and they want Joe Biden in office!
Even in a bot-infested Nickelodeon poll, Trump's ceiling remains 47% https://t.co/E1sX9bXYbR— Steve Morris (@Steve Morris) 1603842189.0
How much of a snowflake are you that you have to steal a Nickelodeon poll? https://t.co/OjWqQlqWrB— Mr. Roboto (@Mr. Roboto) 1603897859.0
Trumpers tried to rig a Nickelodeon Kids Pick the President poll. How pathetic is that? https://t.co/kQ2oPquPlq— 🌊Cyndia BLUE "Unstable Genius" (@🌊Cyndia BLUE "Unstable Genius") 1603866311.0
This poll is simply the latest in a seemingly endless string of surreal experiences to come out of 2020.
Very 2020. https://t.co/vXTXCnA1nY— Max Boot (@Max Boot) 1603885841.0
This poll may not have turned out very well for President Trump, but the only vote that actually matters is the real one, which closes next Tuesday, November 3.
Be sure to exercise your constitutional right and vote as early as possible!