Mocktober 2016

If it’s an even year, one thing is certain in October at Prep—Mocktober, an event where Prep students vote for candidates up for election as well as give their opinions on hypothetical school, local, state and national policies.

The ballots were distributed on Tuesday, Oct. 25, and the results were tabulated the same day.

Over half of Prep students voted in support of Donald Trump for President of the United States and Don Bacon for Congress. In addition, Republicans Charles Grassley, David Young and Steve King, all running for Congress in Iowa, had the support of more than two thirds of Prep students from Iowa.

In addition to asking what candidates students supported, a question about party affiliation and political ideology were asked, too. Thirty-eight percent of students considered themselves to be Republicans. As for political ideology, 26 percent of students considered themselves conservative, which was second only to “Don’t Know” at twenty-eight percent.

Various public opinion questions also appeared on the ballot.

Students, as a whole, supported sending troops to combat ISIS in Syria, keeping immigration levels the same, legalizing the use of recreational marijuana, requiring law enforcement officers to wear body cameras and constructing a light-rail system connecting Elkhorn and Omaha.

On the other hand, students opposed reinstating the death penalty and having a School Resource Officer provide armed security during school hours.

One public opinion question asked students of their opinion on the Health and Wellness Program, to which 39 percent said it had deterred them from using drugs and alcohol compared to 35 percent who said it did not.

Coordinating Mocktober was a team effort, as a number of students from Dave Powers’ AP Government class helped Tom Haindfield in designing and distributing the ballots, writing election procedures and counting votes.

Senior Luke Bausch said of his experience designing the ballot, “Working on the mock election showed me the challenges and rewards of being a pollster.”

The experience was not without its challenges, as Bausch added, “It was difficult to write questions that would minimize inherent biases yet still provide reliable data.”

Mocktober will be held again in 2018, but until then, Mocktober 2016 provided insight into the political opinions of Prep students.