Y Vote Mock Elections
Y Vote Mock Elections aim to provide students throughout the country with their first taste of democracy and political debate.
The Hansard Society's Y Vote Mock Elections website, backed by the DCSF and the Electoral Commission, provides a range of resources designed to enable schools to run their own elections complete with party candidates, canvassers and campaigns.
The whole school, a year group or a class can participate in the Y Vote Mock Elections. Teachers can choose the type of mock election that best suits them depending on how much time they have available and how many pupils are involved. The resources made available are flexible enough in design so that teachers can interpret and execute the activities in a variety of ways according to their needs and the ability of the group. Y Vote Mock Elections encourage greater interest and participation in the democratic process, encouraging students to stand as candidates, form election teams and run election campaigns that mirror the real election process.
Students can replicate election conditions by conducting opinion polls, planning and presenting manifestos, forming pressure groups, debating, designing posters, building campaign websites and making campaign videos. They will be throwing themselves into the roles of party candidates, canvassers, policy makers, press officers, designers, pressure groups, speech writers, spin doctors, election officers, journalists, polling clerks, returning officers and stewards.
The redesigned Y Vote Mock Elections website features a 'Run a Campaign' section — allowing pupils to gain advice and support during their mock election campaign — and a 'Voting' section, including quizzes, polls and video content, where they can learn about the electoral process.
Resources
Teachers can either follow through the steps involved in a mock
election online or download and print the whole teachers' pack. All resources are available free of
charge. Teachers should register their school and submit their results to
ensure that they are included in the nationwide results.
Contact
For more information contact Michael Raftery
tel: 020 7438 1217
email: citizenship@hansard.lse.ac.uk
Hansard Society
40-43 Chancery Lane
London
WC2A 1JA
Useful links
