LA students Choose Harris in Mock Election

Students from the Lincoln Academy Talon staff and Government and Politics class that organized the school’s mock election include (from left): senior Dylan Burmeister, juniors Torren Nehrboss, Helen Duffy, Nathaniel Hufnagel, Nathanael Clark, sophomore Zoe Hufnagel, and juniors Mercy Buchwalder and Amelia Rice.

Dylan Burmeister ’25 and Amelia Rice ’26

In a mock election conducted by LA’s student newspaper, the Talon, and students from the U.S. government and politics class, the LA student body elected a clean sweep of Democratic candidates and passed all five ballot questions.

Following a presentation on the candidates and ballot questions during a school-wide community meeting, the ballot was introduced during English classes on October 28. To model the real voting process as closely as possible, students were not required to vote.

75% of the student body voted in the election, topping the Maine voter turnout of 61.8% in the 2022 election. The Harris-Walz ticket was elected with 52% of the vote in the first round of ranked choice voting. Donald Trump received 37% of first choice votes. He also received more fifth-choice votes than any other presidential candidate, and he received more fifth-choice votes than first-choice votes.

Incumbents Chellie Pingree and Angus King also garnered 52% of the vote to be elected to the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively.

Cameron Reny (D-Bristol) was re-elected to the Maine State Senate and Lydia Crafts (D-Newcastle) was re-elected to the Maine House of Representatives. William Avantaggio (D-Bremen) was elected as Judge of Probate for a third term, although he faced some competition from write-ins, senior Peter Thelander and freshman Ben Mickael.
Students expressed a variety of sentiments about the mock election. Senior Calvin Percy said he “already knew about the candidates, but it could be useful for others who don’t know about them.”

“Mock elections are great learning experiences for schools,” said junior Margaret Thompson, a member of the Talon Editorial Board. “They give students firsthand experience in the voting process and provide a foundation for early civic engagement.”

The election took place during English classes over two days to include all students, including vocational students, since every student at LA is enrolled in an English class. Unlike real elections, ‘voters’ did not have to be U.S. citizens, so all international students had the opportunity to vote.

“It went fine in my classes, but I think it would’ve been more meaningful as an exercise if we had actually set up voting booths,” said English teacher Brenda Sawyer. “It was helpful because students could look up candidates they were unfamiliar with, but in terms of the process, I think giving them a chance to go into a voting booth would’ve been helpful because that can be intimidating.”

The Talon, working with the Government and Politics students, used Google Forms to create a ballot identical to the 2024 Newcastle ballot.

The election was conducted to promote civic awareness among the student body. This message was specifically relevant to students who are already or soon will be 18 and eligible to vote, while educating students on how to research ballot questions and candidates using reliable sources to cast an informed vote. “It was super important because it engages students in democracy and current politics,” said Torren Nehrboss, another junior on the Talon Editorial Board.

Senior Eli Melanson said that the process was informative. “It provided soon-to-be voters with a good opportunity to practice reading and interpreting ballot questions before voting in real life,” he said.

Amelia Rice ‘26 and Dylan Burmeister ‘25 are both students in the Government & Politics class, and members of the Talon Editorial Board.