by Kate McNeil

They may have to wait until another election cycle (or two) to vote, but that didn’t stop Upper School students from flocking to mock presidential polling sites at Chapin on Tuesday afternoon.

Staffed by students in “Election 2008,” a history elective taught by Ellen Baylor and Esther Krell, the polls were set up on the second, third and fourth floors and open for two hours. Faculty and staff also cast ballots in the mock presidential election.

“It’s been a really good turnout,” one Class 12 volunteer remarked. Good was an understatement — more than 90 percent of the Upper School cast a ballot, with Class 9 recording the highest participation at 96.8 percent.

“Even though our votes don’t count, it’s important for us to be involved,” a Class 10 voter said. “In the next election, a lot of us will be able to vote.”

Using a laptop computer, each voter picked a presidential candidate and ranked by importance political issues that mattered to them during this election. Acting as an exit poll, the rankings will help Ms. Baylor’s class analyze voting results in the coming weeks. Among the issues voters ranked were abortion, economy, education, energy, foreign policy, healthcare, immigration and trade.

This fall marks the third time Chapin has offered the Election elective, but for Ms. Baylor, it has been the most exciting one to teach.

“Anytime there’s not an incumbent it will be a dynamic election,” she said. “The level of interest in this election is just extraordinary.”

“Election 2008” is a strictly nonpartisan course, so when a student pasted up a “Barack the vote” poster on the third-floor polling site, Ms. Baylor didn’t pass up the learning opportunity. Taking down the poster she said, “Remember, no soliciting at polling sites.”

Several Class 10 students said they liked learning about campaign strategy and its minutiae, such as discovering that even a candidate’s clothing can make a difference in voter perception. In addition to completing foreign policy projects, the 45 students in “Election 2008” predicted election outcomes in all 50 states using demographic and historical data.

For the remainder of the month, the class will examine election results (both at Chapin and in the United States) and discuss what is in store for the next president.

According to the Chapin election, who might that president be? Shortly before 4:00 p.m., Ms. Baylor sent out an email with the voting results. Emulating American voters, the Chapin community overwhelmingly voted to elect Senator Barack Obama as president.