Members of the Union College community will have two opportunities to cast a ballot next week.
On Tuesday, they can vote in the real election for president, and on Wednesday, they can vote in a mock election for president.
All term long, students in Zoe Oxley’s electoral politics class have participated in a simulated presidential election.
“The simulated election is a component of the course every time I each it,” said Oxley, an associate professor of political science and department chair. “It’s a much more thorough way for students to understand how elections run if they actually have to engage in it.”
This term, there are three campaign teams of six students each. One team has an individual portraying Barack Obama, while the other two have individuals in the roles of John McCain and Michael Bloomberg. Each group also has a campaign manager and press secretary, while other students in the class are journalists and election commissioners.
All their hard work will culminate in a final mock debate and election Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 5 p.m. in the Reamer Campus Center auditorium. Anyone who comes to the debate, which will last about an hour, can cast a fictitious ballot for their favorite mock presidential candidate.