The students at Mount Mayhem School have had enough. Their uniform is revolting, the sports cupboard is empty and to the students’ horror the tuckshop only sells healthy food! Even the teachers want change.
The school decides that every class should have a student speak on their behalf, however Ms Sparks’ Grade Six class cannot decide who should represent them. Ms Sparks says they will have an election as that is how democracy works. She tells them they will vote the way people in Australia vote for their governments – full preferential voting.
Ms Sparks explains that voters must number each candidate in the order they would like them to selected. The voting is secret so they must not talk about their vote and candidates will not know how their classmates voted. Everyone in Ms Sparks’ class votes and the votes distributed as per the preferential voting system until only one candidate is left and they are declared the winner.
Political cartoonist Cathy Wilcox’s illustrations are humorous and give a sense of the often-strong emotions that play out during elections at all levels. The endpapers of ballot papers spilling from a ballot box plays perfectly into similar scenes shown in the media after government elections.
There are many different voting systems used throughout the world. Full preferential voting is the system used, with some state variations, in Australia. Australia is also one of only 22 countries where voting is compulsory. Voting is a fundamental human right. All citizens should be able to have a say in who can represent them and in the decisions made. Unfortunately, there are countries where people have no rights or no say in the running of their country.
The Grade Six election is successful and the duly elected class representative is great. The school has new uniforms, there is new sport equipment and the tuckshop is now quite gourmet in its offerings!
Picture Books for Older Readers
