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Frequently Asked Questions
If the following questions and responses don't answer questions you might have, feel free to send an E-mail to ask your question(s). Your question may then be posted below, but your name will not be used. Our E-mail address is: newsroom@ycjn.us.
School and Teacher Responsibilities
Ballot and Election Preparation
Can a School Use Both Paper Ballots and Online Voting Booths with Computers?
Yes. You may want some grade levels in your school to use paper ballots and other grade levels to use computers as voting machines. That is OK. The methods of voting also are described on this website.
How Do I Set Up My Classroom Computer So Students Can Vote?
The most important thing is to be sure the computer is set up to access websites through a browser. Get into your browser (e.g. - Internet Explorer, Foxfire, Safari) and go to this Web address: (TO COME). You will then see a screen with a boxs where you can enter your school's ID code (TO COME). Your computer then will be ready for the first student to vote.
What Should I Do When the Last Student Votes On Our Voting Kiosk?
After the last student clicks "I'm Done" on the last page of the ballot, you close your browser and turn your computer off. If you want to have absent students vote the next day, follow the set-up instructions in the paragraph above. Students can vote until 4 p.m. on October 29, but each student can vote only once.
What is the Student/Parent Mock Election?
The 2009 New Jersey Student/Parent Mock Election is part of the National Student/Parent Mock Election, which is operated throughout the United States as a voter-education program. The purpose of the Mock Election is to teach the nation's youth about the importance of voting in our democratic society and to make it possible for them to express their opinions on a ballot similar to one that will be used in the General Election on Tuesday, November 3.
When Will the Mock Election Occur?
The official date of the Mock Election is October 29, 2009. New Jersey students will be able to vote in their schools from October 26 through the end of the school day (4 p.m.) on October 29.
Does My Class Have to Vote on October 29?
No. We encourage voting to be done on October 29, but we understand that a school or class may have another activity scheduled for that day (tests, field trips, etc.). Voting can be done in schools from October 26 through the end of the school day on October 29, but ballots from your class must be returned to your school's Mock Election Coordinator no later than 3 p.m. on October 29. That will give the coordinator one hour to report your schools results.
Where Will the Mock Election Occur?
Voting will be done in schools throughout New Jersey. In most cases students will vote in their classrooms from October 26 through the end of the school day on October 29.
Is There a Grade Limit? We have three schools: elementary, middle and high school.
All grades, from kindergarten through 12th grade are encouraged to participate in the Mock Election. There can be a separate Mock Election Coordinator for each school or one person can serve as the coordinator for all schools in a district.
Is There a Charge for My Class to Participate in the Mock Election?
No. The National Student/Parent Mock Election is free for everybody ... students, parents, teachers, and schools. This is a voter-education project that hopes to get a large number of students to participate and to learn from teachers and parents the importance of voting. The New Jersey Student/Parent Mock Election is part of the national project.
What If My School Administration Decides Not to Participate in the Mock Election?
That would be unfortunate, but it is possible a school administrator may think the election will be too disruptive to the school day. If that is the case, you could inform individual students that they can go online to the website for the National Student/Parent Mock Election and enroll to vote.
What if a Newspaper Wants to Send a Photographer to My Class to Cover the Mock Election?
This is encouraged, but it will be a decision to clear with your principal or other school administrator. Any visiting journalist should be asked to report first to the main school office before being directed to your classroom or any other part of the school building. You can assist the photographer or reporter by helping select and organize individuals or groups of students for a photo. Also, you should feel free to answer a reporter's questions about the Mock Election process in your classroom. However, you should refer questions about how the votes will be counted and reported to your school's Mock Election Coordinator.
How Can I Participate in the Mock Election?
More than 1,000 New Jersey teachers have already registered to have their classes and schools participate. If you have not yet received an E-mail announcing the Mock Election, the first thing to do is for a teacher or school administrator to enroll online with the National Student/Parent Mock Election website. Those who enroll will be named Mock Election Coordinators for their school or class and will be given an ID and password in an E-mail.
My Son is Home-Schooled. How Can He Participate in the Mock Election?
All schoolchildren are encouraged to participate in the Mock Election. The easiest way to have your child vote is to contact the National Student/Parent Mock Election headquarters before October 12 to enroll your child to vote. You may also contact your closest school(s) and ask to speak to the school's Mock Election Coordinator and arrange to have your child vote in that school the day the school has scheduled the Mock Election.
Are Foreign-Exchange Students Eligible to Vote in the Mock Election?
Yes. All students attending New Jersey schools October 26-29 may vote.
School and Teacher Responsibilities
Who is Responsible for the Mock Election in New Jersey?
The
Youth Citizen-Journalist Network is
managing the New Jersey Mock Election in 2009.
Each school will have a Mock Election Coordinator who has
enrolled online
through the National Student/Parent Mock Election website. If paper ballots are
used, the
school coordinator will tabulate the school's Mock Election results and send
them to national Mock Election headquarters the afternoon of October 29. Student
voting also may be done online in a computer lab in the school or on individual
student computers, even at home.
What is the School Mock Election Coordinator Responsible For?
The coordinator's primary responsibility will be to retrieve the Mock Election ballot from this website, print enough copies for all students in your school to vote, distribute the ballots to teachers, collect the completed ballots from teachers and report your school's election results to School Perceptions by 4 p.m. on October 29. Every school coordinator will be sent a password to logon to the website to report the school's vote totals.
I Am a Teacher. What Would I Be Responsible For?
Your primary responsibility will be to hand out ballots to your class(es) from October 26 to 3 p.m. on October 29, monitor your students as they vote, collect the ballots and personally hand-deliver them to your school's Mock Election Coordinator before 3 p.m. on October 29. If your students will vote by a computer in your classroom, you will be responsible for setting that computer up. That involves going online to a website address (TO COME), entering an ID code (TO COME), and have students vote on the computer.
What Do I Have to Do With My Class on October 29?
Your primary responsibility will be to hand out or display ballots to your class(es) on or before October 29 and monitor your students as they vote. If you are unable to have your class vote on October 29, ask your school's Mock Election Coordinator for ballots you can use prior to that day. We understand that teachers and schools may have other activities planned for October 29 (tests, field trips, etc.)
What's This I Hear About Parents Voting in the Mock Election?
That's right. Parents may vote in the Mock Election with their children. This option is by invitation of the school and teacher, though, as an effort to illustrate to schoolchildren the importance of voting. This doesn't take the place of parents voting in the General Election in November, though. All registered voters are strongly urged to go to the polls to vote on November 3.
What Can Parents Do to Help With the Mock Election?
Parents are encouraged to help their children as they prepare homework exercises, essays and other projects related to the Mock Election. Please see the "Parents" page on this website. Working through the school's Parent-Teacher Association. For example, parents may be invited to prepare banners and posters for the school to establish school-wide enthusiasm for the Mock Election. Also, parents may be invited to come to class with their children on October 26-29 to help with the election. Keep in mind that parents also are eligible to vote in the Mock Election and their votes should be counted and reported along with the votes of students. Those are just a couple of ideas. Teachers and the school's Mock Election Coordinator may think of other ways parents can assist with the Mock Election (e.g. - help with counting votes, building voting booths for online voting with computers).
Ballot and Election Preparation
How is the Order of Candidates on the Ballot Determined
Each county determines the position of candidates on the ballot. The order of candidates on the Mock Election ballot mirrors the official candidate listing posted on the New Jersey Division of Elections website.
What If My School, County Board of Elections or Local Newspaper Operates Another Mock Election?
That's great! The results from any other mock election also can be reported as part of the statewide New Jersey Mock Election and the National Student/Parent Mock Election.
Do I Have to Print or Copy the Ballot for Every Student in My Class?
No. You can retrieve the ballot and write the candidates' names on your blackboard. Also, you can download the ballot and project it from your computer onto a screen for students to view. You may also create a transparency of the ballot and project it in your classroom with an overhead projector. The students can then write the names of the candidates they want to vote for on a sheet of paper and hand it in to you so you can count the votes and report the total to your school's Mock Election coordinator.
Will the Ballot Be Printed in Languages Other Than English?
No. The ballot is in English. However, if someone in your school wants to prepare a ballot in one or more other languages, that is OK. That ballot must follow the same format as the English ballot so the election coordinator can total the votes easily and send the school's results online by 4 p.m. on October 29.
Are There Curriculum Materials I Can Use to Prepare My Students to Vote?
Yes. The curriculum materials offered on the Mock Election website are free. If you have found other curriculum materials that aren't listed on this website, please send us an E-mail to mention a link to those free materials. We would like to expand the list to help other teachers.
Where Can I Get A Ballot to Vote?
Instructions on how to retrieve the ballot will be sent to every school's Mock Election Coordinator who has enrolled in the program. The coordinator will print ballots for your school and distribute them to teachers on or before October 29 or set up online voting kiosks using the ID number provided. If you don't know who your school's coordinator is, please ask your principal. If nobody from your school has volunteered to be the coordinator, we hope you will get permission from your supervisor to do that job and then enroll your school online by October 12.
Who Prints the Ballots for My Class?
Your school's Mock Election Coordinator will print and distribute ballots to teachers on or before October 29. Ballots also may be copied onto transparencies for teachers to display with an overhead projector for the entire class to see.
Can I Create My Own Ballot for My Class?
Yes. If you want to use the election process to include questions in addition to those on the ballot, that is OK. Your school's Mock Election Coordinator would not report those local questions to the National Student/Parent Mock Election headquarters, however.
Can a School Use Both Paper Ballots and Online Voting Booths with Computers?
Yes. You can retrieve a practice ballot on this website.
When Can I Expect To Receive Voting Instructions?
All schools that enrolled to participate in the Mock Election will receive an E-mail with instructions in early October. You can also retrieve voting instructions on this website.
Do All Students in My Class Have to Vote in the Mock Election?
No. Any student may decide not to participate in the Mock Election. If a student wants to vote only for selected parts of the ballot, that is OK. For instance, a student may choose to vote only for the governor, but not for the special issue question.
What If My Students Want to Vote Only for the Governor Candidates?
That is OK.
How and When Will the Mock Election Results Be Announced?
We will announce the results of the Mock Election on October 30. The results will be reported on this website for the New Jersey Student/Parent Mock Election.
Can I Announce The Election Results for My Class or School Before October 29?
Yes. However, we urge teachers and school Mock Election Coordinators to keep the election results secret until they are announced on October 30 and the school's results can be compared with the statewide results. The results will be posted on this website.