Information for students on voting, political parties and the different types of elections can be found here.
Teachers » Super Mock Election » Step 2: Public Announcement and Nomination
Step 2: Public Announcement and Nomination
Announce the election in an assembly, explaining what is involved and the different roles available (election team, candidate, campaign team). Encourage pupils to take part. Offering some sort of reward for all candidates or the winning party is one way to encourage participation – you may be able to arrange a visit to Parliament or your local council offices so that candidates can present their views to their real representatives. Other schools have allowed the winner of their mock General Election to be their year's representative on the school council.
Distribute nomination forms along with Becoming a Candidate cue cards to students from all participating year groups. This could be done in tutor time or as part of a citizenship lesson. Remind pupils of what the various roles entail and ask them to register their interest as either a candidate or a member of the campaign team or a member of the election team. Candidates need to decide which party to stand for (or create their own) – further information is provided on the cue card and in the ‘Run a Campaign’ section of the website.
Download NOMINATION FORM.pdf
Download BECOMING A CANDIDATE.pdf
Create a Y Vote display to raise awareness of the project. Include clear information on how to get involved and any important dates. You can update the display by adding add party manifestos and your ‘Notice of Poll’ at a later date.
Get pupils to think about what characterisitics a candidate should have by taking part in our online Build Your Own Politician poll. Encourage them to learn more about voting and political parties before the election by visiting our Voting section - it includes fun videos and a quiz to test their understanding.
Extension Activities:
Y Vote Jobs - Encourage pupils to visit the ‘Running a Campaign’ section of the website to find out about the different jobs that make up a campaign team. Each party in your election needs to think about who is going to perform the tasks mentioned for their campaign.
Pressure Groups - Get pupils to explore the role of pressure groups by visiting our ‘Running a Campaign’ section and doing research on real pressure groups. Groups of pupils who care about one specific policy or policy area (but do not want to stand for election as a party) could be encouraged to take the role of a pressure group in the election in order to influence party policies.