Royal Oak High School’s mock election in November was open to all students, but the outcome differed from the national results. The mock election was held on October 24th 2024, just before the actual election, allowed students to participate in a simulated vote, and get a sense of the process before they are eligible to vote at 18.
Senior Connor George thought the experience was unbiased and fair.
“This election was held very well and it held a wide range of options for people to vote no matter what party they were voting for,” he said.
The mock election followed a similar process as the actual election. The MMR was designated as a “polling place” where students entered and were given ballots, assigned a booth, and allowed to vote. While students weren’t required to present identification, the official voting process requires voters to present photo ID.
Ballots for ROHS students were collected by social studies teacher Kimberly Gogola, who organized the event and sent the ballots to the Royal Oak School District to be tabulated. Students reported to the MMR during their social studies classes, but were not required to participate.
Organizational considerations were important in making sure the election ran smoothly.
“Due to time constraints, many issues had to be worked out,” said Gogola. “The actual ballot was really long, so it had to be shortened a lot. Each class would have to come down every 5 minutes to make sure we kept the lines short. Therefore, I had to make a spreadsheet for teachers to follow.”
Gogola provided teachers with instructions on reviewing the ballot with their students and suggestions about how to find more information on the candidates. She also set up the event.
“I had to make sure all the voting stations were set up at the beginning of the day and broken down and put away at the end of the day,” she said.
Along with preparing the MMR as a polling place, Gogola had to plan for her actual teaching day.
“I also had to get a substitute in my room for the day so that I could be at the polls and be a poll worker for the day,” she said.
Gogola, who has coordinated mock elections in prior years, finds the experience to be worthwhile for students.
“My hope is that students will learn about what it is like to vote, see how easy it is, and hopefully, they will when they turn 18,” she said.
835 out of 1300 ROHS students participated in the mock election. The results were as follows:
President
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz: 65.1% of the vote
Donald Trump and J.D Vance: 24.6% of the vote
Other minor party candidates: small percentages of the vote
U.S. House of Representatives – 11th District
Democrat Haley Stevens won with 63 % of the vote
U.S. Senate
Democrat Elissa Slotkin won with 58% of the vote
Michigan’s State House of Representatives:
Democrat Sharon MacDonell won with 63.5 % of the vote
Oakland County Parks and Recreation Millage
Passed with 67% of the vote
