Mock election

{{Short description|Unofficial or advisory non-binding election}}[[File:Mock Election Day.jpg|thumb|A mock voting booth at a US elementary school]] A '''mock election''' is an election for educational demonstration, amusement, or political protest reasons to call for free and fair elections. Less precisely it can refer to a real election purely for advisory (essentially without power) committees or forums such as some student councils, particularly those that chiefly emulate a real legislative body.

== For educational purposes == Schools sometimes organize mock elections to introduce young people to the concept of elections before they have reached their voting age. The elections aim to give the participants an understanding of democracy and politics, and encourage future young voters to cast a ballot. Mock elections are frequently held during an actual election.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Can Participation in Mock Elections Boost Civic Competence among Students?|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15512169.2023.2300425|journal=Journal of Political Science Education|date=2024-04-02|issn=1551-2169|pages=274–291|volume=20|issue=2|doi=10.1080/15512169.2023.2300425|language=en|first=Erik|last=Lundberg|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Practice makes voters? Effects of student mock elections on turnout|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0263395719875110|journal=Politics|date=2020|issn=0263-3957|pages=377–393|volume=40|issue=3|doi=10.1177/0263395719875110|language=en|first=Richard|last=Öhrvall|first2=Sven|last2=Oskarsson}}</ref> They can have real or fake candidates depending on the school and the purpose of the mock election.

== For a change to democratic elections == As a way to introduce democratic elections in Bhutan, in preparation for the Bhutanese general election in 2008, two mock elections were held. The mock elections were primarily used to familiarize voters with the procedural aspects of voting, including registration, Voter Photo Identity Cards, using a voting machine, and vote counting.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Democratic Transition in Bhutan: Political Contests as Moral Battles|last=Kinga|first=Sonam|publisher=Routledge India|year=2019|isbn=9780429328268|author-link=Sonam Kinga|chapter=3 Mock elections: The practice of an idea|chapter-url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9780429328268-4/mock-elections-sonam-kinga|url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780429328268/democratic-transition-bhutan-sonam-kinga}}</ref>{{Reference page|pages=75, 79}} The first election was held in 2006 at Paro College of Education, and featured faculty and students who formed or voted for six dummy political parties. The parties engaged in political campaigning, which cumulated in two elections, the first resulting in two main parties, and the second deciding a winner.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|page=78}}<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Statistical Information on Elections in Bhutan (2006-2015)|publisher=Election Commission of Bhutan|pages=11–14|url=https://www.ecb.bt/rnp/election.pdf}}</ref> The second mock election was held country-wide on April 21, 2007 with four dummy parties.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|page=81}} After the first round, the top two parties advanced to the second round, which was held on May 28, 2007.<ref name=":1" />

== For amusement and parody == [[File:Benjamin_Robert_Haydon_(1786-1846)_-_The_Mock_Election_-_RCIN_405824_-_Royal_Collection.jpg|thumb|''The Mock Election'' by Benjamin Robert Haydon, depicting a mock election in a British debtors prison, 1827.]] In the United Kingdom, a mock election was held in the grounds of a debtors' prison, King's Bench Prison, in 1827. The prisoners declared they would elect two Members of Parliament (the standard representation for a pre-Reform Act English Borough). The constituency was dubbed the "Borough of Tenterden" after the Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench Lord Tenterden.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=A genius for failure: The life of Benjamin Robert Haydon|last=O’Keeffe|first=Paul|publisher=The Bodley Head|year=2009|isbn=9780224062473|url=https://archive.org/details/geniusforfailure0000okee/|pages=260}}</ref> Three candidates stood for election. One of them, Robert Stanton, had recently been a real Member of Parliament. Another was the boxer Henry Josiah Holt, and the third was Joseph Meredith. The election was presided over by an Irishman Jonas Murphy, posing as the Lord High Sheriff.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=The Mock Election 1827|url=https://www.rct.uk/collection/405824/the-mock-election|website=Royal Collection Trust|access-date=2025-11-28|language=en}}</ref> Notably, artist Benjamin Robert Haydon was imprisoned there during the election and was inspired to create a painting based on the events, titled ''The Mock Election''.<ref name=":3" />

== See also == * {{Annotated link|Garrat Elections}} * Humours of an Election, a series of four oil paintings and later engravings by William Hogarth that illustrate, creatively, the election of a member of parliament in Oxfordshire in 1754. * {{Annotated link|Mock election in the King's Bench Prison}} * Mock trial * Model Congress * Model United Nations == References == {{reflist}} * Category:Educational materials