FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 28, 2022

Student Mock Election Results Released

AUGUSTA — In this week’s Student Mock Election, student voters selected Governor Janet Mills and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree as winners, and Congressman Jared Golden as the leading candidate in students’ first choice rankings. 116 schools had submitted results to the Secretary of State’s office by press time.

Candidate	Votes
Hunkler, Sam	2676
LePage, Paul R.	7107
Mills, Janet T.	9205
Write-ins	542
Total	19530

Candidate	Votes
Pingree, Chellie M.	5176
Thelander, Edwin	3638
Write-ins	318
Total	9132

Candidate	Votes
Bond, Tiffany	2460
Golden, Jared F.	3955
Poliquin, Bruce	3224
Write-ins	251
Total	9890

“Getting to participate in a mock election is a great way for Maine students to learn about our electoral system in a truly hands-on way,” said Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. “These are our next generation of voters, and their voices matter. Now when they’re old enough to volunteer as a poll worker, or participate as a voter in state and local elections, they’ll have this practice from their mock elections.”

In Maine, 16- and 17-year-olds who are pre-registered to vote may serve as poll workers. Registered voters who will be 18 by Election Day, Tuesday November 8 may vote in this year’s General Election.

“Students got to experience ranked choice voting on the ballot,” said Secretary Bellows. “With both congressional races being done by RCV, we have an example of what happens if someone gets a majority on the first-choice rankings, and when someone doesn’t. This will give teachers another learning opportunity that is meaningful to students.”

The Secretary’s office will not be asking schools in Congressional District 2 to send ballots in to Augusta for further tabulation, though schools could run mini-tabulations of their ballots to simulate what it would look like to re-allocate the second-round votes of the third-place candidate in their school.

To supplement other classroom instruction, the Secretary of State’s office compiled short videos from each of the candidates on the ballot. 154 schools from around the state signed up to receive Mock Election materials from the Secretary of State, but due to local curricula or scheduling needs, some schools may decide to hold their mock elections at another date.