Mock Election January 2005
In 2004 The Learning Centre held its first Mock Election involving every first year pupil in Bellshill Academy. The election relied heavily upon ICT with an electronic voting system that would allow the pupils to register their vote quickly and efficiently, as well as support for the pupils in using ICT tools to produce all of their election materials.
As part of their Social Subjects course, holding a mock election in the school was seen as a way of improving knowledge of the election process and generally stimulating the pupils' interest in politics. It was then decided that another mock election should be held in 2005 to coincide with the real General Election on May 5th.
Pupils gather to hear the results
The Election proved to be a success at almost every level surprising staff in the school by just how "in to it" some of the pupils became. All pupils were allocated one of the seven parties that are represented in the Scottish Parliament. Each party chose a Candidate and an Agent to fight the election for them. The other party members became election workers. The Candidates and Agents worked together to produce a party political speech and then delivered it to the rest of the class, allowing the pupils the opportunity to gain an introduction to basic ICT skills. A short summary of their party's policies was obtained from each of the political parties who have representation in the Scottish Parliament.
The summaries included:
- A brief outline of the party's political philosophy; and
- The party's policies/commitments on:
(a) Education;
(b) Housing;
(c) Meeting the needs of young people;
(d) Meeting the needs of the elderly; and
(e) The War in Iraq.
Most of the parties responded with excellent summaries, which The Learning Centre uploaded to the school's intranet along with party logos and pictures of the candidates. The workers had to develop their DTP skills to produce posters and leaflets in support of the candidate. To decide the winner a 'first past the post' system was employed, with pupils electing a candidate from each of the 5 classes and the party with the most elected candidates being declared the winners (this allowed a follow up discussion about proportionality). An electronic voting form was produced that allowed the students in each class to register their vote online. The student was required to provide their username and password, and then select a candidate. The system automatically registered their vote and published results instantly, providing detailed voting information on where, when and how each pupil had voted. The system also prevented the same user from voting twice. The results of the voting are listed below.
The results were as follows:
Seat Count
| Scottish Conservative Party |
2 Seats (1O1 & 1O2) |
| Scottish National Party | 1 Seat (1D1) |
| Scottish Socialist Party | 1 Seat (1W1) |
| Scottish Liberal Party | 1 Seat (1M1) |
| Scottish Labour Party | 0 Seats |
| Scottish Seniors Unity Party | 0 Seats |
| Scottish Green Party | 0 Seats |
Overall Voting Majority
| Scottish Conservative Party |
19% |
| Scottish National Party | 18% |
| Scottish Labour Party | 15% |
| Scottish Socialist Party | 14% |
| Scottish Liberal Party | 12% |
| Scottish Seniors Unity Party | 11% |
| Scottish Green Party | 11% |
The Presiding Officer announces the results
These results are not really what most of the staff inside the school expected. On investigation one of the reasons was that (like real voters) many of the pupils voted for the person not the party. So popular pupils tended to do well. It also appeared that like any normal child of that age they rebelled against their parents' beliefs and views.
One thing everyone did agree on was that the project was a great success allowing the Bellshill Academy pupils to gain an understanding of politics and the General Election that was going on around them, which is an important part of their education.
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