A mock election is an

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

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

Secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

s sometimes organize mock elections to introduce young people to the concept of elections before they have reached their

voting age A legal voting age is the minimum age that a person is allowed to Voting, vote in a democracy, democratic process. For General election, general elections around the world, the right to vote is restricted to adults, and most nations use 18 year ...

. The elections aim to give the participants an understanding of

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

, the role of government and parliament. The experience helps encourage future young voters to cast a ballot. They can have real or fake candidates depending on the school and what the mock election is for.

For a change to democratic elections

As a way to introduce democratic elections in Bhutan, in preparation for the Bhutanese general election in 2008, a mock election was held on April 21, 2007, to prepare the Bhutanese for the imminent change to democracy. This election featured 4 pretend political parties and randomly-selected high school students as candidates.

For amusement and parody

In the United Kingdom before the

Great Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), enacted by the Whig government of Pri ...

a mock election is known to have been held in the grounds of a notable

debtors' prison A debtors' prison is a prison for people who are unable to pay debt. Until the mid-19th century, debtors' prisons (usually similar in form to locked workhouses) were a common way to deal with unpaid debt in Western Europe.Cory, Lucinda"A Histor ...

, Kings Bench Prison in 1827, shown by a painting of one of the inmates. In the painting, which is not very subversive to the

status quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, economic, legal, environmental, political, religious, scientific or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the curren ...

, is a red flag-like banner that reads "Liberty of the Subject", whilst showing some chaotic frivolity and

sherry Sherry ( ) is a fortified wine produced from white grapes grown around the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is a drink produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versio ...

glasses, and a gilt or bronze-tipped policeman's truncheon with a decorative bow. Turnkeys (guards) participated in the revelry but the governor faced censure and questions in parliament.

For educational purposes

For a change to democratic elections

For amusement and parody

See also