Campus Spotlight: Mock Elections at Georgia College

By Stephanie South, Program Associate, AASCU

Greg Kaufman, the American Democracy Project Coordinator at Georgia College, kept hearing from faculty that it seemed there was not nearly as much interest in the 2012 Presidential race as there had been in 2008. He offered a challenge to his first-year students: Generate some campaign activity.

And generate they did.

The American Democracy Project at Georgia College held its 2012 mock election on October 23 and 24 and gathered 770 votes from participants during the two-day voting period. Those coming to the faux polls were allowed to cast their vote for the next President of the United States and to indicate the issue that they believed would dominate the 2012 election.

The results were as follows:

Courtesy of The Colonnade, Georgia College

Kaufman said that many students who participated in the mock election were first-time voters and seemed motivated vote in the November 2012 election. He had the opportunity to teach first-year students, upper-class, and graduate students and said that at every level, engaged learning in community contexts makes a positive impression on students.

“One hour of being deeply engaged in learning and serving in a community context is worth more than a few class sessions,” said Kaufman. “The opportunity for students to interact with community members over issues of national importance makes citizenship relevant and helps students imagine their capacity to be civic agents.”

Learn more about ADP at Georgia College here.