What is the Mock Election?

Gayle F. McKeachnie, Lieutenant Governor of Utah, says that, "The Mock Election is an ideal way for the youth of our state to begin to grasp the concepts of democracy and empowerment. At a time when responsible citizenship has become so critical, students and teachers should be jumping at the chance to involve themselves in such a worthwhile cause."

A Mock Election is an effort to allow elementary, junior high and high school students an opportunity to actively participate in the political process by simulating actual elections in their home schools.

The Mock Election is designed to increase awareness and understanding of the election process, to encourage students and their parents to get involved in the process and, ultimately, to create a generation of responsible citizens.

The National Organization of the Mock Election is coordinated by the National Student/Parent Mock Election, headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. The program is endorsed by both Republican and Democratic Parties as well as the U.S. Department of Education.

Senator Orrin Hatch calls the Mock Election the "largest violence prevention project ever," in that "democracy is a means of nonviolent resolution of conflict."

For more information, please visit the National Student/Parent Mock Election web site at www.nationalmockelection.org.

When is Utah's Mock Election?

On October 26, 2004, one week prior to the National Election, students in Utah and across the nation will cast votes for the U.S. House of Representatives and issues of interest to predict how their states might vote in the 2004 election.

Participating Utah Schools should report their results on this web site by
October 27. Statewide results will be posted to this web site on October 29.

After Utah's votes are tallied, they will be reported to the
National Student/Parent Mock Election Headquarters by the Utah Student/Parent Mock Election Chair.

Who can participate?

All elementary, junior high, and high schools in Utah are encouraged to participate in the Mock Election. Registration is available online. You can also view a list of currently registered schools online.

The National Student/Parent Mock Election and Utah’s Mock Election can be used to improve self esteem in students, as well as encourage civic awareness and participation.  Psychologists describe power as the ability to affect, to influence and to change other persons.  “Power,” Rollo May points out, “is the birthright of every human being.  It is the source of his self-esteem and the root of his conviction that he is personally significant.”

The University of Colorado’s evaluation found that participating in the National Student/Parent Mock Election REDUCED THE SENSE OF POWERLESSNESS. It also increased:

• The belief that voting is important
• Political decision-making ability
• Informed involvement on current issues
• The belief that social studies classes are relevant
• Discussion of political and election topics with parents

It is the sense of powerlessness that keeps young people and their parents from going to the polls.  Few of our young students have been taught how to use their power as Americans.  It is our responsibility as educators and public officials to help them understand that power, to show them how to use it, and to actively help them use it. 

Participating in the nation’s largest voter education project teaches young Americans that they count.  They can affect, influence and change other people.  The Mock Election teaches young citizens how to exercise the power and the moral authority of their citizenship. 

Schools must enable each student to feel that he or she will be counted, that he or she has valuable function, that ‘attention will be paid,’ not only in the school, but in the nation.  “Democracy,” Senator Orrin Hatch has said, “is a means of nonviolent resolution of conflict.  While it vests power in the people, we exercise power with votes instead of with violence; ballots instead of bullets.  We do not need a gun to be heard.”

The National Student/Parent Mock Election and Utah’s Mock Election are the vehicles that enable schools all across the country to make their students’ voices heard.

The National Association of Secretaries of State released a New Millennium Report with some statistics that vividly document the need for the National Student/Parent Mock Election.

• The turnout of just 36% for the 1998 midterm election was the lowest since World War II.
  
  
• Turnout among 18-24 year old citizens was below 20 percent, perhaps the lowest in our nation’s history.
  
  
• The 70.2 million American youth who are now younger than 18 compromise the largest generation of young people in our country’s history
  
  
• Only 21 percent of young people say that they “often” spoke with their parents about politics, government or current events when they were growing up.  (Many youth are learning NOT to vote from their parents.)
  
  
• A majority of youth, 55 percent, agrees that “the schools do not do a very good job giving young people the information needed to vote.” (“We had mock trials, but it still didn’t teach us anything about going out and voting…It was just basically teaching you what the law was, but not really saying when you go out to vote, (or) this is what you should look for in an individual.” Des Moines-non college, non voter
  
  
• Thirty-six percent of respondents to the New Millennium survey said that making American government classes more participatory would make young people a lot more likely to get involved in the community and in political activities
  
  
• Only 47 percent of 18 and 19 year olds are registered to vote, but more than 80% have a drivers license
  
  
• At best, 20 percent will vote by age of 21, but 89 percent will drive a car
  
  
• Only 21 percent of American teenagers know how many members are in the U.S. Senate

Senator Edward Kennedy states that "participation in the National Student/Parent Mock Election will help us build a stronger nation for the future, and it will be an experience that none of the participants will ever forget.”

The above information, in part, was taken from a publication by the
National Student/Parent Mock Election Organizing Committee. 

1. Register your school or classroom with Utah’s Mock Election.  Registration is available online, or by calling 1-800-995-VOTE. Completed registration forms can also be mailed to: State Elections Office, P.O. Box 142325, Salt Lake City, UT, 84114-2325, or faxed to 801-538-1133.

Please register as soon as possible, but no later than October 22, 2004. When your registration is accepted, you will receive an email confirmation. If you have any questions about your registration status, please contact Mica McKinney at elections@utah.gov or by calling
1-800-995-VOTE.

If you are interested in using voting booths supplied by county officials, you must contact your county clerk by October 12, 2004!

2. Inform students about the election process and citizenship responsibilities.  Suggestions, curriculum materials, lesson plans, and mock election organizational hints are available online under the Resources Link. Also, be sure to visit the General Election Information link.

3. Print student ballots (Ballots will be available at the end of the summer). If you would like to know which congressional district you live in, click here. Visit the following maps for state house and senatorial districts. Ballots are available online. Please feel free to add your own ballot questions. This may include other candidate races, issues of local concern or items of interest to your school. You will only be reporting congressional district totals and mock election issue totals. For help tabulating the mock election votes consider these sample tally sheets.

4. Report school totals. On October 27, all registered schools will report their election results on a web site that will be emailed to them.

5. Visit Utah’s Mock Election web site on October 29 & 30 for
state totals.

6. Visit the National Student/Parent Mock Election site on November 1st for state and national results.