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How to Hold a Mock Election {Game}

Kids can learn about citizenship with this mock election game where they cast their ballot for their favorite candy bar.

mock election for cub scouts

One of our November pack meetings was about citizenship, so we played the candy bar election game. I hope you'll think it's one of the coolest Cub Scout November pack meeting ideas like we did!

With the change in the Cub Scouting program back in 2015, the Cub Scout pack meeting plan themes became the 12 points of the Scout Law. While citizenship isn't one of the the themes in the plans, you can still have a citizenship theme, or you can add the mock election game to the Loyal meeting. You can also use the instructions as a candy bar election lesson plan.

Citizenship Gathering Activity for Cub Scouts

Our gathering activity was an election word search which you can download by entering your email address below. Cub Scout word search printables make great gathering activities!

election word search
Enter your email below to download your copy of the word search.

As the Scouts are completing their word searches, there may be words they don't know–especially the Tigers.  Leaders and parents can talk to them about what they mean.  Love it when a fun activity becomes a teaching moment!

Mock Election Game

I got a wonderful mock election idea from Arlen Ward. On his old website, he had a post about electing your favorite candy bar. This was one of the kids' favorite Cub Scout games for pack meetings.

candy bar election
Which one will win the candy bar election?

Here's how we did it.

  1. Set up props
  2. Cubmaster introduction
  3. Cub Scouts register to vote by filling out voter registration form
  4. Cub Scouts receive voter registration cards and awards
  5. Campaign managers make opening speeches
  6. Cub Scouts vote using four methods
  7. Den chiefs count ballots while campaign managers present commercials
  8. Winner is announced after each voting method
  9. Cub Scouts get candy bar

Props for Candy Bar Election

To give the election a more authentic feel, I made a ballot box and polling booth

front view of ballot box
Mock election ballot box

The ballot box was a simple shoe box with a square hole cut in the top. I wrapped it in white paper then taped on pictures of American flags plus a “Pack 297 Ballot Box” sign.

polling place for mock election activity
Voting booth for mock election game

The polling booth is a trifold presentation board that you can get through my Amazon affiliate link.  I covered the back with solid red wrapping paper and put a “polling place” sign on it.  This gave the kids some privacy as they vote.

To add to the excitement, I ordered these campaign hats for the kids.  Did you know they're called “skimmer hats?”  I didn't.

Cubmaster Introduction of Mock Election Game

After our opening ceremony, our Cubmaster used this introduction:

The right to vote is a duty as well as a privilege. It is important for all citizens to vote in every election to make sure that we keep our democratic system of government. People who do not vote lose their voice in the government. You want to make sure that you are informed about the issues and the candidates before you vote. Tonight, we are going to have an important election. We're going to vote on your favorite candy bar! Throughout the meeting, you'll hear from our two candidates. But first, everyone must register as a voter. If you're not registered, you can't vote! Den chiefs, will you please pass out the voter registration forms?  After you've completed your form, we'll call each rank to come forward to turn in your registration form. You'll get your voter registration card and the awards you've earned.

Register to Vote Before Awards Ceremony

Your election will feel much more authentic if the Cub Scouts have to register to vote first. Feel free to use the Voter Registration Forms that I created. Enter your email below to download them.

voter registration form

Cub Scout Candy Bar Election Awards Presentations

After the Scouts have filled these out, each rank was called forward.  The Cubmaster called each Scout's name and announced the awards they had earned

cub scout awards vote banner
The awards were taped inside these little banners.

The Cub Scout received their Voter Registration Card (download below) and a Vote banner that contained his awards. You can find the instructions for making these banners in this post.

registered voter card

Opening Speeches by Campaign Managers

Next, we introduced our two campaign managers who had a couple of minutes to kick off their campaigns.  Their campaigns were pretty funny!

cub scout november pack meeting citizenship theme
campaiging for twix candy bar mock election

Scouts Vote Four Ways

Make sure your Scouts are sitting with their dens and enlist the den leaders to help with this part.

Allow the kids to vote for their favorite candy bar using these four methods of voting.

  1. Each den gets one vote
  2. Each den gets votes based on the number of members (one vote for every two Scouts)
  3. Each den selects a representative from their den to vote for them
  4. Each Scout gets a vote

Your den leaders will most likely need to help lead this part–especially for the younger Scouts.

We did the one-Scout-one-vote election last, and that decided our winner.

Den Chiefs Run Election

We enlisted the help of our den chiefs to run the election. 

Each den was called up to vote, and they took their voter registration card with them as they walked to the polling booth.

The Den Chiefs checked the Scouts' registered voter cards then gave them a ballot.

When all of the dens had voted, the Den Chiefs counted our ballots. 

While they counted the votes, our campaign managers had a “commercial” for their candidate. 

election results

We showed the results using a laptop and overhead projector.  If you don't have access to that equipment, you can use a flip chart or poster board.

We finished off the night with the Scouts getting one of the winning candy bars!  Don't forget to find out if any of your Cub Scouts have allergies

vote for your favorite candy bar

Of all the Cub Scout pack meeting themes we've done, this one was the most exciting for me.  And I think the Scouts loved it too!

What activities have you done to teach your den or pack about elections?  Share them in the comments.

Mock Election Printables

Enter your email to get your Cub Scout Mock Election printables!

If you don't get an email within 10 minutes, check your spam folder. If it isn't there, let me know at [email protected].

By entering your email, you'll also get lots of other Cub Scout tips and tricks in my weekly email.

Yours in Scouting,
Sherry

P.S. If you liked this pack meeting idea, sign up below for more Cub Scout information!

"Vote!" -- Cub Scout Awards Presentation | Cub Scout Ideas

Sunday 12th of May 2019

[…] you’re focusing on elections during your pack meeting, here’s a fun way to present awards the boys have earned using […]

Lois

Tuesday 30th of October 2018

Do you happen to have the campaign speeches people used? And how many voter booths did you make? Such a great idea!

Sherry Smothermon-Short

Friday 9th of November 2018

Thanks for your kind words!

Honestly, we had two of our adults serve as the "campaign managers," and they just made up their speeches on the spot. They talked about stuff like how "chocolately" their candy bars were, how crispy the cookie parts were, etc. The sillier they were, the better the boys loved it.

At the time, we had about 35-40 boys in our pack, so I just made one voter booth. Hope this helps!

Andrea Welch

Sunday 9th of November 2014

We do something similar in our Pack every November, but we vote for the Pinewood Derby Car Design categories. In October we let the boys throw out ideas and then in November they cast their votes using a ballot.

Sherry

Monday 10th of November 2014

Great idea! Thanks for sharing!

“Vote!” — Cub Scout Awards Presentation | Cub Scout Ideas

Tuesday 4th of November 2014

[…] you’re focusing on elections during your pack meeting, here’s a fun way to present awards the boys have earned using […]