Running an election within your school community Gus Humphries Caulfield Grammar School

Overall aims – Why do this? Students in the class/cohort gain the opportunity to: Represent a political party Develop an understand of Australian Party platforms Enhance their awareness of the similarities and differences between parties Experience the Australian political system at work, including preferential voting Investigate political issues relevant to Australia/Melbourne/peer group Present political views to an audience Plan and manage a campaign Market their party to a wider audience Students in the ‘electorate’ gain the opportunity to: Be exposed to Australian political issues and views Make decisions about their own views Experience preferential voting Ask questions of the ‘politicians’

Victorian Curriculum Links

What do you need - checklist Willing students Auditorium (lecterns and microphones if possible) AV equipment for showing videos Internet access (for interactivity for ‘electorate’) Roving microphone for questions from audience Supportive colleagues Patience and a sense of humour For voting: Tables/booths Pencils Printed voting papers Class lists of all voters (including cohort) Volunteers (to tick off names) Counters Scrutineers (for counting)

Process – The set up… Students in the class/cohort are informed of the job ahead of them Form groups Select/be allocated a party to represent They must create a new name, logo and slogan for the party. No current day names/logos etc may be used Develop an understanding of party platform and position on key issues relevant to the electorate (the voters). These issues MUST be common to all parties Allocate roles to all members of the group Suggested no more than 5 per group Students made aware of the need to develop a campaign to culminate in a Presidential style debate in front of the electorate

Roles Campaign video Introduce candidate, party and views on selected issues https://vimeo.com/155913176 Campaign posters (for debate and ‘press the flesh’ session) Showing name, logo, slogan and candidate (must be signed off by the electoral commission – you!) How to vote card Students should establish links to other parties and negotiate where they might place one another on the how to vote card Candidate Dress like a politician Represent the party and party values Prepare short introductory speech and be prepared to debate and answer questions

Prep (for you) Once names of parties in, using ‘double randomization’ (alerting students to between 1-3% occurrence of ‘donkey votes’) you should develop the ballot paper Enables students to develop their how to vote cards Print required number of ballot papers

On the day… Panic Press the flesh session Optional extra which usually works well Sectioned off areas at recess, lunchtime where students from the electorate can meet with the candidates Opportunity to see posters, parties in casual fashion, and speak with parties No act will be too low for candidates/party members at this point

On the day… Auditorium is set up as a Presidential debate Electorate take their seats (with devices if you wish) Teacher in charge explains the process Videos Introductions Questions from the audience and process

One the day… Videos are played one by one Videos go no more than one minute Once video is complete, candidate enters the stage and takes their place Once all videos are complete, each candidate has 30 seconds to introduce themselves Time limits must be strictly adhered to

On the day… Once introductions completed, students can log into digital space to post questions Suggested areas of questioning (given which areas students investigated for each party) These questions can be general (for any candidate) or for a particular candidate Facilitator needs assistance here to select questions, students from the audience to ask them and achieve a balance Once a candidate has answered the question (30 second limit – suggest this is on the big screen counting down) another candidate may choose to rebut, respond or also take the question Etiquette https://app.schoology.com/course/506284785/materials/discussion/view/506285153

On the day… After all questions are complete (most likely will have to cut it off!) it is time to vote Voting ‘infrastructure’ will be required here Security of the ballot papers Security of the ballot boxes Staff assistance Facilitator presents the following slide…

Voting You must number ALL the boxes for your vote to count Think about where your preferences go – this decides elections! https://youtu.be/y_9hArsJrAg Get your name ticked off at your house table Go to the voting area Complete your vote privately Fold your paper ONCE and put into ballot boxes Thank you for your participation in our democracy!

Follow up Following class, vote count Counters, scrutineers required Break down the voting process step by step so class can see why and how a candidate gets eliminated to reach an absolute majority (as per the video)

Questions?