Chelmsford High School students cast their electronic ballots during a mock presidential election held on Wednesday, Oct. 16

by Jen Oemig

CHELMSFORD – The presidential election may still be a week away, but students at Chelmsford High School have already voted, casting their ballots during a mock election on Oct. 16.

Class by class, students in grades 9-12 filed into the cafeteria at Chelmsford High and voted for their favorite candidate using an electronic ballot on a Chromebook via Google Form.

In order to streamline the voting process, only the presidential nominees appeared on the ballot; no other elections or ballot questions were available.

In total, 615 votes were cast during the mock election.

“It was more than I was expecting,” said CHS civics teacher Danny Richter, explaining that history and civics students helped drum up interest. “It exceeded our expectations.”

In order to pull off a successful mock election, Richter said there was a lot of coordination and collaboration with the technology department in setting up the Chromebooks and creating the Google Form.

In their civics class, students study a lot of current events, including politics and government.

Our class is very conversation-based,” said senior Elizabeth Falcone. “We would talk about the presidential debates and learn more information about policies. We would also discuss the general election process, which I think is interesting.”

Civics student Caroline Pitts, a senior, said she enjoyed the experience of helping out with and participating in the mock election.

“I think it’s a good opportunity, especially for seniors,” she said. “There’s a good percentage of kids that’ll be able to vote this year, so it puts into perspective how important it is to vote.”

At the CHS polls, numerous civics students helped guide their peers through the voting process, much the same way poll workers do during municipal or national elections.

“We encourage them to volunteer at the polls, as well,” Richter said. “Overall, kids were enthusiastic and respectful. I thought the process flowed as smoothly as it could have. I was most impressed with the turnout and the student volunteers helping.”

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is the state coordinator for the National Student Mock Election for Massachusetts, a program designed to teach students about the power of voting.

“We will get the results from this school and send them in to the JFK Library,” said Stephanie Quinn, K-12 Social Sciences Department Coordinator for Chelmsford Public Schools. “And they collect them from schools all over the country.”

Falcone said she is looking forward to seeing the final results of the mock election.

“It’s important to see where future generations will be leaning toward, rather it’s to the left or to the right,” she said. “That’s what’s most interesting to me.”

Once all the results have been collected, the JFK Library will post the final totals on its National Student Mock Election page (https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/education/teachers/civic-education-programs-and-materials/national-studentparent-mock-election).