ROHS Mock Election: Reflections and Recommendations

Last Thursday Royal Oak High School held their own Mock Election. Students would go up to the voting boxes and fill in their candidate of choice along with a "yes" or "no" about Proposals 1 and 2 for Michigan and our own school's Proposal 1. This was a trial run of the event and the ultimate turn out was pretty decent. All in all, Obama won our school by quite some votes, but McCain hung in there with a small percentage. I think the question here is, was this a fair representation of the ROHS student body?



I think it was a fair representation, but I believe that it could have been better. About 700 people voted, but I think that we can do better. Our school hosts 1,800 people and I think it is reachable to make sure than at least 1,000 vote in our next election. Of course, this was the first time we had done it, but with a few modifications I think that we can have an even better mock election.

First off, I think that there should be more voting slots so that the lines aren't as long. This will draw more people in because I heard that people didn't vote because they "didn't want to wait in the long line". I think that in shortening the line and the time it takes to actually vote, we will get more voters.

Secondly, I think that the students should be more informed about the ballot. People had said that they weren't sure what both Proposal 1's and Proposal 2 meant, so they did not fill in their scantron for that section. To get a more efficient and accurate standpoint on the proposals I believe we needed to better inform people so they would know what they were voting for.

I believe these additions and moderations will greatly benefit our future mock elections. I know they will continue to be a great success.