By Dominik Lobkowicz
Seventh-graders fill out ballots at Medomak Middle School’s mock election. (D. Lobkowicz photo) |
Working with sample state ballots specific to their respective towns, seventh- and eight-grade students both voted in and operated a mock election at Medomak Middle School Oct. 30.
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Seventh-grader Alyssa Chandler casts her ballot. (D. Lobkowicz photo) |
Glenda Robinson, primarily a social studies teacher for the school, helped organize and oversee the the students’ efforts.
“I have done it like this for the classes, for the school, since I was at A.D. Gray 18 years ago,” Robinson said.
Most of the focus is on the process, and the students’ knowledge of the actual candidates and referendum questions is usually limited, Robinson said.
“We do talk about the differences in parties, and what is the tendency to be the belief of one party as opposed to another, and we talk about the issues but it’s pretty surface at this level,” she said.
“My goal and the standards that we’re trying to get them to meet, is that they’ll understand and be able to demonstrate the representative electoral process,” she said.
Natalie Shields, a seventh-grader from Warren, said voting is important because it gives the people a say in how the state’s money is used for items like bond issues.
“We know our votes won’t count, but it was still fun to be able to pretend like we were really voting,” she said.
Shields voted to re-elect Gov. Paul LePage.
“The reason why is because if nothing’s been wrong with him, then why do you want to put someone else in?” she said.
Shelby Lash, a Friendship seventh-grader, also voted for LePage.
“I voted for LePage because I feel that his way of using money is the same I would choose,” she said.
Colby Allen, a seventh-grader from Union, took a chance on Cutler with his vote.
“I voted for Eliot Cutler, because he seems like the underdog … and underdogs sometimes win,” Allen said.
Question 1, on bear baiting, hounding, and trapping, was an important issue for Lash, and for fellow seventh-grader Colby Mank, of Union.
“I voted no on it. Because that’s the way people can control the bears from attacking people, and it’s safer if they don’t attack the children,” Lash said.
Mank was in favor of the question.
“I voted yes to prevent baiting and trapping bears, to let the bears have [more of a] chance instead of just having the humans lower the entire population,” he said.
Michael Simmons, a Union seventh-grader, said he learned in class that referendum questions can sometimes be changed around to confuse voters.
“If they think that you’ll say no, they’ll change it so you’d have to put yes to say no,” he said.
Robinson expects the results from the mock election to be tallied early the week of Nov. 3.
“I really want them to do a comparative after the real election and see how close we came,” Robinson said, looking at both the students’ towns’ results and the statewide results.
