Blanchelande students head to the polls

Friday 13 December 2019

After a week of campaigning, registering and preparing, Blanchelande students have had their say in a mock general election.

Students were chosen to represent the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties in the exercise, which aimed to give pupils a better understanding of elections work.

The three 'parties' gave speeches to the rest of the school and were able to campaign ahead of yesterday's vote.

The students were required to register days before the 'polling station' opened, reflecting the local and UK voting systems.

"With the build up to the election what we wanted to create here were conditions that were as near as possible to how an actual general election works," explained Vice Principal Mike Elward. "It's more than just about the political parties, although they are an important part of it. It's about understanding that, in order to vote, you need to register, that you only have one vote, the importance of using the polling station properly, spoiled ballot papers."

Pictured: Abigail, Jayde and Christina volunteering on the registration team.

Students had until the end of lunchtime on Thursday to cast their votes, which are being counted, and will be announced by the school. 

"The people who run the polling station are all volunteers and that's how it works in a proper election," Mr Elward continued. "They've spent time preparing for it, so we've got counters, a registration team, a polling station manager. There's the political parties which are campaigning and canvassing, they gave some speeches in assembly and made some posters."

Abigail volunteered to help on the registration team and said she was particularly interested in the exercise, having turned 16-years-old and therefore legally able to vote in Guernsey's next election.

"We went around each class registering those who wanted to vote," she explained. "Then we cross their names off the list when they vote.

"I voted for the 'Liberal Democrats' because I found they talked about the most areas. All the parties talked climate change and global warming, but they talked about other things like mental health."

Fellow student Jayde, 16, said she decided to vote for the mock 'Liberal Democrat' party because they "really engaged with the audience" during the assembly speeches and had "unique ideas".

"It was really cool to be able to see what [a general election] would be like," she added.

Pictured top: Tori, Maisie and Delphine in the polling station.