'And the winner is' -- with the League's help

By Jenna Braasch

They were brought in to count the final votes during Monday night’s Mock Presidential Election and that’s exactly what the McDonough County League of Women Voters (LWV) did.

But with style.

The group, which included six officers and members, showed up excited to count the ballots and wore white sashes with bold blue letters — LWV — across them.

“We are so glad to be included in this worthy event and very happy to see students so involved in the political process,” said Sally Egler, the chapter vice president.

Egler and other members of the chapter had the official duty of counting the delegates’ ballots, which would determine the winner of the 2011 Mock Presidential Election. They also said they were at Western Hall to present and promote the idea of having fair and impartial elections.

In fact, the League of Women Voters was founded in 1920 as a nonpartisan political organization devoted to fostering informed and active participation in government and the electoral process.

What makes the league different from many other political groups is its practice of not opposing or supporting any party or candidate. As a result, Macomb's local chapter was selected to keep the ballot-counting process neutral, fair and fast enough for it to be announced at the conclusion of the night.

Early on Monday, U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Peoria) spoke to delegates and reminded them that the “largest voting demographic is actually young people today.”

Egler said that fact is another reason her organization was in attendance.

“We have a big election year coming up and we are going to try and register all eligible young people and students before that time is here a year from now,” said Egler. “We work at getting more of the young people involved.”

Many of the members attending Monday’s activities were also involved in the first Mock Presidential Election at WIU four years ago.

“The Mock Election this year is definitely better in terms of larger attendance, a great-looking set-up 'convention hall,' and overall (it is) more organized,” said LWV chapter co-president Sara Boeckelman.

While she was not present at the entire mock election four years ago, Boeckelman said she was aware of how it was conducted and saw a number of positive changes.

“Four years ago was their (WIU’s) first mock election to be held and I believe they used it as a trial-and-error type (event) that ended up great then, but this year just got a better overall flow to it,” she said. “Everyone seemed to know and understand their roles this time.”

She said the caliber of the speakers at the closing convention was impressive and included not only Congressman Schock, considered a rising star in the Illinois Republican Party, but Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and an assortment of student campaign managers and representatives for both the Republican Party candidate Mitt Romney and Democratic Party candidate, President Barack Obama.

“The speakers did a tremendous job and this turned out to be a very educational and inspirational mock election this year,” Boeckelman said.

Once votes started coming in, it was the job of the LWV members to count the ballots, which came in from delegates representing each of the 50 states, and provide a total for each of the three candidates on the ballot.

The numbers were projected on a large screen in Western Hall so delegates could see which of the candidates won each of the states and view a running count of the number of electoral votes received by each candidate. States voting Republican were represented by red while those going Democratic were depicted in blue. States without a clear winner remained white.

The LWV members counted the votes in record time, according to election organizers, and passed on their totals to be recorded. About 9 p.m., incumbent President Barack Obama was declared the winner.

“This was a very helpful, educational and inspirational night for everyone,” Boeckelman said, just before President Obama’s name was announced as the winner and hundreds of red-white-and-blue balloons were released in celebration, marking the end to another successful WIU Mock Presidential Election.