Vote 4 me by Krys Saclier
Illus. by Cathy Wilcox. Wild Dog Books, 2020. ISBN: 9781742035956.
(Age: 8+) Highly recommended. With bright, breezy illustrations by
cartoonist Cathy Wilcox, the basics of the preferential system of
voting are given in short, pithy sentences, easily understood and
absorbed. Saclier is a well versed electoral educator, highly
experienced in explaining the system of voting used in Australia to
school children.
In this book a class at Mount Mayhem School hosts an election. They
are tired of their school uniform, the dreary healthy foods in the
canteen and the lack of sports equipment. One person will represent
them all in making change. Four people nominate for the position and
these four names are placed on a ballot paper. Their teacher, Ms
Sparks, explains that each child must put the numbers one to four
next to the four candidates in order of preference. Each candidate
tries to win the votes of their classmates: one using food, one
being threatening, one by dressing up and one simply believing he is
the best.
When the votes are counted, one boy, Farrel has more votes that the
others, but not a majority. There must be 13 votes against someone's
name for them to win. So the votes of the person with the least
votes are used for their second preference, and so on until one
person has a majority. The sequence is explained very clearly with
voting papers, charts and figures used to follow each vote and
addition of votes.
Eventually one person has the required votes and she wins. Change
will occur at Mount Mayhem School.
At the end of the procedure is an outline of major government
reforms through the time of European colonisation, leading children
to question some of the decisions and possibly why they have not
been made sooner. It begs the question what will be next?
This fascinating guide to Australia's voting system is accessible to
all children. It provides a marvellous template for classes to
follow. Teacher's
notes are available.
Themes: Preferential voting, Elections, School, Change.
Fran Knight