July Activity – Mock Election

1. To experience and understand the process of election, important documents, eligibility criteria for voting and about political parties in election through action, activity, and participation. 
2. To elect the ACTiZENS’ Club’s office-bearers democratically. 

Critical thinking, Teamwork 

Collaboration, Responsibility 

Plain paper (notebook rough paper), Voter ID(optional), shoebox or any available cardboard box to make ballot box, newspaper to cover the box (optional), glue, scissors, ruler, pencils, erasers, and sketch pen/pens.

We recommend following the best out of waste approach for materials to be used in the activity.

​​Step 1 – Introduction​

Estimated Time: 15 minutes.

Teacher will begin the class by talking about ACTiZEN Club.

The Actizen Club by Desh Apnayen Sahayog Foundation helps you become a champion citizen. It focuses to help you become Alert, Informed and Active citizens – or ACTiZENS for short. Being in Actizen club will give you lot of opportunities so you are not just a regular student, as you will become a responsible citizen ready to make the world around you a better place!

We will begin the first activity of this interesting club by selection our representatives for the club whom we will call Office bearers of Actizen Club through elections. Are you excited to know more about elections?

Students – (anticipated response of excitement)

Teacher – I have few questions about elections for you all. Raise your hand to answer.

• Did you participate in any election before? 
• What happens in elections and why we have elections?
• Who is eligible to vote in general elections in India?
• Why is voter ID card important?
• Which documents are required to conduct elections?
• Which are some of the political parties that you are aware of? 
• What are symbols of these parties?

Take few responses for each question, (These questions are to understand how much they know and create excitement in them). Teacher can bring along voter id to show to students. (optional)
Teacher will summarize the responses & share that we will experience the election process by choosing Office Bearers for Actizen Club in this activity and will divide some responsibilities to make it fun, exciting and participating.

Tell students, after the election activity, write down the responses to these questions in as activity Learning in available page. (Teacher can encourage few students to write & Office Bearers can put it on Desh Apnayen Wall.)

​​Step 2 – Nomination for office bearer roles (President and Vice-President)​

Estimated Time: 20 mins.

1. Explain the roles for the posts of Office Bearers i.e. President and Vice President of Club and the Eligibility criteria for it to the class (Annexure 1).
2. Teacher tells, ‘Office Bearers will be the representative of the Club who will have these following responsibilities – The following are the eligibility criteria for giving your name for as potential candidate for post:

Eligibility Criteria (Annexure 1)

Roles and Responsibilities of Office Bearer (Annexure 2)

3. Ask for nominations for both the post of Office Bearers – President and Vice President. The candidates are also allowed to nominate themselves. Ask them to come forward and campaign (speak about themselves) in front of the class. The Speech can cover:

• Introduction in brief
• Share why you want to become an Office Bearer.
• Share why everyone should vote for you – Ask students to vote for you.  

(Note:  If students are unable to share immediately, teacher can give them some time to prepare point)

4. Inform that the candidates can campaign in their respective classes (Ask for support in election through voting) till one day before the election date. To campaign, make a Campaign poster with party logo and slogan highlighting why should everyone vote for you. Choose 2 supporters & form a party for yourself. These supporters will help to campaign.  (Campaign materials can be displayed on Desh Apnayen Wall with teacher’s approval). They can do this in recess time, or time before/after school.  

5. Tell them that elections among these candidates will be on ________ (date of election). For that we will need to prepare few things.

​​Step 3 – Assigning Tasks for Elections ​

Estimated time: 10 mins to give instructions.

Teacher say’s “For elections, we will need Voter Card, Ballot Paper, Voter list and Ballot Box”. And explain the purpose of each document

• Voter Card - Ask each student to prepare/print a ‘Voter Registration Card’ using a small piece of paper.
• Ballot Paper - Assign responsibility to 2-3 students/a group to make ballot papers for each office bearer nomination (President and Vice President) as per the class size or one ballot paper per student can be made. One row of NOTA. Inform students if they don’t wish to vote for any of the candidate, they can tick NOTA – None of the Above.
• Voter List - Take a copy of attendance register with space for students to sign.
• Ballot Box – Few students/teachers can make the ballot box using a shoe box or cardboard box with a small slit on the top.

Sample of all the above is given in Annexure 3 for your reference.

Assign to students’ task of creating Voter Card and Ballot paper for elections and give specific date for submission. Teacher will keep ready a Voter Lists and Ballot box for the election day. 

Pre-inform the election date to students to bring the Voter Card and be present to vote. Ensure all the tasks are completed before the election day.

​​Step 4 – Set up a Ballot Box​

Estimated time: 5 mins

Set up a ballot box in the classroom and distribute ballot papers to all the students.

Note: In case of large number of students – two ballot boxes can be created and divided the class into two groups to do parallel casting. (like setting up two booths)

Note: Schools can also use a sketch pen to ink the index finger as votes are cast to make it closer to real experience. (Optional)

​​Step 5 – Voting by Secret Ballot Box​

Estimated time: 20 mins.

Have the students vote by secret ballot, one student at a time.
Each student needs to find her name on the voters' list and sign next to it. That student then gets a ballot to cast a vote.

Have a private area in which the students can secretly read and fill out the ballot. A few desks in a corner will do. For an effect, you could also make a voter's booth in which a student can fill out the ballot more privately —a cardboard box used for packaging a refrigerator could work as a booth. Remind students that it is a secret ballot and that they are allowed to vote for whichever candidate they like — no one should pressure anyone to vote (or not vote) in any particular way! When the students are done filling out their forms, they can put their ballot in the Ballot box.

A sample of the result sheet is given below:

​​Step 6 – Vote Counting​

Estimated time: 10 mins.

As you count each ballot, tally the votes on the board (for students in higher grades, you can also calculate percentages of votes). When you are done counting, make sure the number of ballots is equal to the number of students. The candidate with the greatest number of votes shall be declared the winner for the respective class. If there is a tie, you can have another round of voting, or the teacher can cast his/her vote.

​​Step 7 – Announcement of Results​

Estimated time: 10 mins.

Basis the tally of votes, Announce the winners and office bearers of The ACTiZENS’ Club and launch the Club officially by handing over the badges to the newly elected office bearers in morning assembly or announcement. The office bearers will sign the oath that they will fulfill the responsibilities. The oath for President and Vice President is given in Annexure 4.

(Note: Oath is to be signed, if time permits, Teacher can invite the President and Vice-President to read the Oaths in front of their respective class)

Desh Apnayen Wall is dedicated space to put about ACTiZEN Club monthly activities as per the theme of the month. For this activity, the following can be updated by office bearers on the wall.

• Campaign materials of candidates – if any is used.
• Announcement of Winners – List the names of Office Bearers of ACTiZEN Club.
• Duly signed Oath of Elected Office Bearer.

• Encourage active participation from all students, especially full attendance on voting day.
• Ensure fairness and transparency during election process.
• Avoid giving any form of chocolates/rewards to students during the activity.
• Don’t allow bullying during nomination or voting process.
• Don’t overlook the importance of recap and discussing key learning points after the activity.

For activity photos to be shared to engagement officers, please share clear pictures of 

• Signed voter’s list.

• Students casting their votes.

• Ballot box.

• Tally of results.

• Desh Apnayen Wall.

(One clear picture for each)

To collect the feedback of the activity, IVR call will be made to you, or you can make the call. The following script will be played for you. This is given here for your reference purpose, so you can choose the alternative as appropriate.

1) Which Grade activity feedback you want to give in this call? 

Press 1 – for Grade 6 

Press 2 – for Grade 7 

Press 3 – for Grade 8 

Press 4 – for Grade 9 

For incoming calls Q.2 will not be asked as teacher need to only call after activity completion 

For outgoing call, please ask Q.2  

2) Have you completed the activity of this month? 

Press 1 – If Yes 

Press 2 – if No 

3) How was the overall activity experience in the class? 

Press 1 – for Good 

Press 2 – for Average 

Press 3 – for Needs Improvement 

4) Have you submitted this activity’s pictures/videos to the respective engagement officer? 

Press 1 - for Yes  

Press 2 – for No 

5) Do you want to give feedback for any other grade? 

Press 1 - Yes, repeat the process from Question 1-5 

Press 2 – No, thank you for your time, your submission is recorded successfully.

Office bearer will fill this report from August month onwards.

(Click here to view the form)

​​Annexure 1 – Criteria to participate for Office Bearers Election​

Eligibility Criteria –

• Willingness to be ACTiZEN Club representatives i.e. share about the club to others, share activity reports to Desh Apnayen team (IVR/Google form), etc.
• Willing to make sure all tasks in activities assigned to them are done on time.
• Good at holding discussions and taking opinions from classmates.
• Willing to present a 2–3-minute speech  and create campaign poster with logo/symbol and slogan of their party  as part of the Campaigning Process. 

​​Annexure 2 – Roles and Responsibilities of Office Bearers​

Roles & responsibilities of the candidates to be clearly oriented at the beginning.

​​Annexure 3 – Sample formats​

A. Sample Ballot Paper

Assign responsibility to 2-3 students/a group to make ballot papers for each office bearer nomination as per the class size by either taking printouts or making them manually using paper and pen. Alternatively, one ballot paper per student can also be assigned. Please provide names of nominated students to be elected. 

A sample is given below:

B. Sample Voter Registration Card

Ask each student to prepare/print a ‘Voter Registration Card’ using a small piece of paper. To register to vote, each child should fill out a mock voter registration card on which they write their name, classroom, grade, and any other information you would like them to add. This process lets the students know that adults have to register officially long before they can vote on Election Day.

 A sample is given below:

C. Voter’s List

The teacher will collect all the Voter Registration Cards and make a voters’ list. Make sure to leave space after each student's name for their signature before they are given a ballot. Let the students know that this process ensures that people can vote only once in a single election cycle. Teacher can take a copy of attendance list with space for students to sign.

A sample is given below:

D. Ballot Box

A group of students/teachers can make the ballot box using a shoe box or cardboard box with a small slit on the top. If they like, they can cover it with coloured paper and label it as "BALLOT BOX - ACTiZENS’ CLUB.”

​​Annexure 4 –Office Bearers Oath​

(Teacher can make a copy, or ask the student to make a copy of the Oath)