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We decided to run our very own mock presidential election for our Coop Group this year! It was the perfect opportunity to get all the kids involved and invite in this very timely educational experience.

We decided not to discuss current politics as a group, leaving that for each family to handle as they wish. There are some great unit studies and resources available, we discuss them in our post, How to Run a Mock Election. Instead, we voted on Disney characters running for president! We thought it would not only be fun for the kids, but also would keep things parallel to the actual election. So where did we start? With voter registration of course!

Voter Registration

I sent out a survey to all families in our Coop Group asking for the names of participating members and the state they want to be registered in. With the 9 families participating, our votes will represent 15 states. I put every voter into a spreadsheet along with their registration state to help me stay organized. This works well for me when it comes to preparing for the election results - more on that below.

The Materials

I got very excited about this part! I really wanted the whole experience to be fun for the kids and their families. I created a Voter Information Pamphlet (more printing options below) to announce all the candidates and provide some fun information about each. I then created a ballot to match! I tried to design the materials to be simple yet recognizable. It’s fun for the kids to see our official voter materials and how similar theirs looks! I even provided “I Voted” and American flag stickers.

Sending the Voter Materials

I decided that it would be most fun for the kids to each receive their ballots, voter pamphlets and stickers by mail. I printed and assembled everything and sent it out 2 weeks prior to our election day. The kids had so much fun receiving their materials and learning all about the candidates. This was also super fun for the kids since we all received our ballots (and of course a plethora of voting information) by mail this year. Many families sat down to review both the real election and mock election materials together, so much fun conversation!

Voting

Again, to mimic the current election, I offered a couple options for returning the ballots: mail-in or in person voting. Yup, we had a live voting party complete with a polling booth and ballot drop box!

I stay organized best with spreadsheets, so I created one to help me keep track of everyone’s state of registration, popular, and then electoral votes. So, those who are taking advantage of early voting will go into the spreadsheet ahead of the live vote. I also plan to provide results for the 35 states not represented by our voter participation, is that election fraud? The live vote and trying to turn around results quickly was making me nervous. I didn’t want to completely swing the election ahead of time, but I also wanted to be sure that we would have a pretty clear winner on election day!

Presenting the Results

We had a live election and results party on November 2nd! It was so fun to ramp up the excitement ahead of the real presidential election the following day. Voting began as each voter arrived and dropped their completed ballots in the ballot box.

The votes were counted using a spreadsheet (have I mentioned I’m obsessed with spreadsheets?), which you can access as a Google Sheet or Excel Doc.

The kids were gathered at our decorated table for a brief explanation of how the popular vote determines which candidate wins each state. Then, we discussed the electoral college and how the electoral vote ultimately decides an election before we began our own results. Each child had their own results packet.

I had a large U.S. map printed at Kinkos displayed to show the results while the kids followed along on their own maps. The states I predetermined were filled in the color of the corresponding candidate on the big map and each child’s map. Then, I announced each of the 15 states we represented starting on the East coast and heading West letting the kids color in each state with crayons as we went. You can pre-color your own map, or purchase a pack of them.

I wasn’t sure if everyone would be excited about the process or if anyone would be terribly disappointed that the candidate they voted for didn’t win. But, would it even be a real election if someone didn’t cry? Luckily, everyone seemed content with the results!

Want to print use our mock election materials? Feel free to download the one best for you!

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Our 2020 Mock Presidential Election