Lynnwood Ridge learners go to the polls

In a bid to educate and engage minors on the democratic election process, Lynnwood Ridge Primary School, in the east of Pretoria held a mock election for learners on May 28.

The event was held ahead of the recent national elections which took place on May 29 to feed learners’ curiosity about the voting process.

Mock election organiser Beverly Forrest said the voting process targeted learners in the foundation phase.

Forrest said in the mock election process, learners were tasked with electing a new mascot for their phase.

They could choose among:

– a squirrel
– a woodpecker
– a rabbit

Forrest said they chose these animals as they used to frequent the area years before the school was built and the area developed.

“To make the whole process seem real, three teachers including myself campaigned for each animal explaining why each animal would be a good candidate to choose,” said Forrest.

She said learners created their own identification cards and cast their votes with some even experiencing the consequences of spoilt votes.

“Some learners made the mistake of putting an X in more than one box. We made sure to show them all the spoilt votes and explain to them why the votes won’t be counted.”

Acting Deputy Principal Celeste Marks led the mock elections for senior phase learners, who voted on their preferred theme for their Grade 7 end-of-year function.

“We wanted to make the process relevant and exciting for the learners by voting on something that affects them directly,” Marks said.

The senior learners also created their own IDs, which were checked and stamped at the voting stations.

“We replicated the whole voting process as we had learners’ IDs checked if their name was on the voters’ list which was the class list,” said Celeste.

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Marks said the voting process was replicated to mimic the real thing, complete with waiting in queues and experiencing technical difficulties.

“While learners were queueing and waiting for their turn to vote, we told them that we are experiencing load-shedding and that we are offline,” said Marks.

Marks said they did this to educate them on some of the challenges you might come across when queueing in long voting lines.

She added that the exercise also taught learners valuable lessons about responsibility and accountability.

She said some learners lost their IDs and couldn’t vote while others made mistakes on their ballot papers.

“These experiences will help them understand the importance of attention to detail and responsibility in the voting process,” Marks said.

Both Forrest and Marks emphasised the importance of teaching learners about the voting process and its significance.

Forrest noted that the school aims to keep learners aware of current events and will likely repeat the exercise in five years when the next national elections take place.

She said hosting the mock election has not only educated its learners about democracy but also instilled in them the value of participation and the importance of making informed choices.

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