On Oct. 29, Middletown High School held a mock election created by MHS government teacher, Sean Haardt. The elections were to give students a voice and to encourage future participation in actual presidential elections. The ballots not only had all six presidential candidates and a write in section, but a section to vote for a congressman, and a bill for the Maryland state constitution regarding slot machines.
The majority of student voters said they liked how the ballots had most of the issues a genuine ballot would. MHS senior Colin Buxbaum said, “It’s a good idea because it gets students involved in the entire political process.”
Some wondered if students would take the mock election seriously and make an educated vote. “I think because we are in school we are being informed on the election and we are educated enough on certain issues to make a serious vote,” said sophomore Tara Shaffer.
Senior Jake Butler said, “I think some students are capable of making an educated vote, but others may just take what their parents say and vote based on that. They don’t watch debates and therefore can’t make a good decision.”
For the most part, this election was taken seriously. However, from the results, we can see that some students took advantage of the write-in and decided to cast there votes for MHS government teacher, John Miller, who respectively received one percent of the vote for the presidency. Others voted on history teacher Bill Muldoon. He did not receive enough votes to be counted.
Many students liked the idea of a mock election, but some students thought it was a mistake. MHS junior Leah Cockerham said, “It sounds like trouble because with so much politics going on around us already, it will only divide classes even more and cause drama.”
While many students share numerous political views, a majority of the students thought Barack Obama would win the presidency for our mock election. MHS senior Bryan Vanek said, “Obama is probably going to win simply because everyone seems to want to see the ‘change’ he promises, and that appeals to young people.”
Haardt added to that stating, “While this area is conservative, the younger generation will probably vote more for Obama because he is more relatable.”
On a more local level, many MHS students thought slots would pass. Vanek said, “Slots will probably pass in our mock election not only because teens think it is fun to gamble, but Slots are more helpful than harmful because of the revenue it brings in.”
As for congress, students were unsure about the candidates, but were leaning towards Roscoe Bartlett. Many felt they simply didn’t know enough of the issues at hand at the congressional level, but were familiar with Bartlett’s name and would therefore vote for him for congress.
As many of the students predicted, Obama won the mock election, winning 51% of the vote over John McCain with 39% of the vote. Ralph Nader came in third winning 7% of the vote. For congress, Bartlett won 50% of the votes, followed by Dougherty with 40% of the vote. MHS students voted overwhelmingly yes for slots, with 70%of the vote; only 30% voted against slots.
Overall the mock election had a successful outcome. It gave non-student voters a voice who could not participate in the National Election
