Mock election is defined as an election systematized only for educational or

transformative purposes (De Guzman, 2015). Last April 10, the Bachelor of Arts in

Political Science conducted a mock election as part of its project in increasing the

participation of students in the political arena. It also aims to give the participants an

understanding of democracy, the role of government, and parliament. The

participants’ experiences can help in stimulating future young voters to cast their

ballots especially in the upcoming Midterm Election on May 13. More so,

participating to such can give them a sense of understanding on the candidates who

deserve their vote, how important for them to exercise their right to suffrage, and

thinking critically how their votes will affect them and the whole country.

The following observations were drawn before the start of the Mock Elections.

First, some students especially the Fourth years are creating their sample ballots

and jotting down the candidates that they want to vote. This means that the Fourth

Years are much more prepared on the mock election compare to the other years.

This can also be an indication that the Fourth Year Political Science Students are not

new to the election process and are knowledgeable on the things that should be

done when there is an election.

One of the students that the researcher had interviewed said that having a

sample ballot with them before entering the precinct means less hassle and it will

help them not to take too much time in the precinct. As to Patinio (2019) of the

Philippine News Agency, creating your own sample ballot will diminish the period
that you will stay in the precinct and of course it will lessen the tendency of overvote

and undervote.

The reason why the lower years do not carry with them a sample ballots or

any list can be explain by the Maturity Theory in Election (Burnett, 2017). According

to Burnett, maturity plays a significant role in election. First time voters tend to

commit mistakes during election by means either undervote or overvote. Burnett also

mentioned that having a list or sample ballots during elections are done mostly by

old time voters who already experienced the difficulty of election.

But, this theory only applies to the First year students. For the old time voters

which do not a have sample ballot with them, the theory of Mind Conditioning by

Pavlov can explain it. According to this theory, one of the reasons why the other

years failed to have a sample ballot with them is because they already conditioned

their minds in the candidates who are they going to elect. This theory cannot

generalize all students who did not have a ballot with them but it can at least hit a

fragment.

Second observation, the election started a little bit late for it was supposed to

start at 8:30 but begins at 8:41 due the people assigned for the registration are late.

In addition to this, the people assigned to act as members of the Board of Election

Inspectors (BEI) that were supposed to support and assist the voters were not really

aware on their role in the election process. This observation is normal in mock

elections. Meaning, since the people-in-charge in the election process were not

trained for such, having errors and flaws on their role is acceptable. This observation
is also indicative that these people that were supposed to take charge on the

registration and on the voting process were not briefed beforehand or that some

information were not discussed to them . And if only they knew what their roles in the

mock election are, it would’ve been much easier for the voters to cast their vote and

the bulk of voters must have been narrowed if only they started it the time it was

supposed to begin.

Third, some of the voters do not pay attention on the instructions given by the

Board of Election Inspectors. Although the voters are listening to the BEI’s, some of

the voters do not adhere to the instructions given. Also, there is a raucous outside

the voting precinct. Thus, there is a tendency that the voters might not hear the

announcements of the BEI’s. It depicts a usual election process.

One of the voters said that, “Ate, tinatanong ko lang po iyong mga friends ko

kung sino ivo-vote nila para alam ko kung sino ang iboboto ko kasi ngayon ko lang

po nalaman na may ganitong event po.” This is an indication of not being ready on

the mock election and of lack of information of some about this. And of course, the

cases of unaware students with regard to this mock election is normal because the

information dissemination for this election is limited and the preparation is not that

long compare when having the real election where everything are prepared for a

period of time starting from the Registration of Voters, Filing of Certificate of

Candidacy of the aspiring officials, Declaration of Nuisance Candidates, Printing of

Ballots up until the Campaign Period and the day of Election.

 And last, the voters are well-mannered. They arrange themselves and this

made a cohesive start for the voting process. This is not normal in an election

because during the 2016 Presidential Election, though it was considered to be

peaceful, some of the places around our country are disorderly due to some

instances (GMA News, 2016). This observation means that the voters are orderly in

the mock election due to the fact that there were only one hundred twenty-two (122)

students that are registered. It also means that the lesser the number of voters, the

orderly the election. It is because the BEI’s can still control the behaviour of the

voters in the precinct whereas if it is on an actual election the precincts are crowded

and disorderly is recurrent to happen.

Now, let us discuss the observations during the election. After signing on the

registration table, the BEI’s inside the precinct calls for the number of voters that will

fill up the chairs inside. While some of voters were already casting their votes, the

following observations were drawn. First, voters with no sample ballots or list took

too much time choosing who they are going to vote. Most of them are from the First

Years up to the Third Years while on the Fourth Years only 4 out of 22 (only 22

casted their votes for the Seniors) do not have sample ballot. The maximum time of

each voter to cast their votes ranges from 3-5 minutes each especially from the

lower years (1st to 3rd). Fourth years, on the other hand, have a maximum time of

only 2-3 minutes with the exception of those who do not use sample ballots. This

means that the Fourth Year students are much more primed on the mock election

compared to the lower years. This is also indicative that the lower years still need to

boost up their participation on this matter and address the bottlenecks that were
obvious while they were casting their votes. While the names of the candidates were

already been posted on the room, it would have been better if they create their

sample ballots beforehand.

Second observation was the majority of the voters were already finished

casting votes as of 9:17. This means that even if the time for voting ends at exactly

11:00 A.M., almost all of the students were already done casting their votes.

Year Level Total Number # of Students who are # of students who are
of Voters done voting as of 9:17 not done voting
1st Year 49 31 18
2nd Year 27 17 10
3rd Year 21 13 8
4th Year 25 21 4
Total 122 82 40
Table I: Students who are done voting as of 9:17 A.M.

Table I shows that as of 9.17 A.M about 82 out of 122 voters were already

done voting or about 67.21 %. This also means that only 32.79 % of the total

numbers of voters were not yet done voting. This means that the voters go to the

precinct early so regardless on the account of fact that the voting started late, still

majority of the voters were already done by 9:00 A.M. And as of this moment, there

were only few people that can be seen inside and outside of the voting precinct. As

of 9:20, the BEI designated on the voting precinct cannot be seen already. Even the

registration table outside is already vacant. As of 10:00 A.M., a total of 18 voters cast

their votes. One of the voters is complaining because she is not aware of the

candidates. She kept on asking the in-charge BEI on who are the candidates. While

the other voter, do not want to cast his vote. Eight (8) among these 18 late voters
arrived early but because they do not want to be in a hassle of waiting for their turn

to vote and of course to lessen the bulk of people inside and outside the polling

precinct, they decided to vote late. This observation can describe the political culture

that we have in our country. The description of the political behaviour of these eight

(8) individuals can be manifested by its political culture and from its political culture

to its culture (Belen, 2016). Hence, the culture that you have in your community can

influence your political culture, and your political culture can influence your political

behaviour.

POLITICAL POLITICAL
CULTURE CULTURE BEHAVIOR
Figure I: Framework of Belen (2016) about the Philippine Political Culture

Then, at exactly 11:00 A.M., the BEI’s officially closed the voting process. As

of this moment, the tallying of the voters’ turnout and the result of the mock election

preceded the end of the voting. Table II will show the voters’ turnout of this mock

election.

Year Level Total # of Voters # of Votes Cast # of Voters who did not vote
st
1 Year 49 46 3
2nd Year 27 22 5

3rd Year 21 17 4

4th Year 25 22 3

Total 122 107 15

Table II: Voters’ Turnout
 It can be perceived in Table II that turnout of votes are 107 and those who did

not vote are 15. This means that majority of the students of the Bachelor of Arts in

Political Science participated in the mock election. Converting this data into

percentage, it can now be deduced that 87.7 % cast their votes and only 12.3 % did

not. The high percentage of those who cast their votes can be explain by the fact

that these students are Political Science students and exercising their right to

suffrage is a thing that can make them be involved in the political arena. The

remaining 12.3 % percent are those students who are not inform on the mock

election conducted and of students who do not want to vote. In any election, there

are always instances where people do not cast their votes. And being said, the

voter’s turnout of this mock election is good already because of limited time

preparation and of limited time for information dissemination.

The data about those who did not participate in the mock election can be

explained by the Rational Choice Theory (Down, 1957) wherein it discusses about

the reasons why voters do not vote. Although this theory applies more on

economics, it is also undeniable that this theory can explain why people do not

participate in the election. According to this, people always like to do something that

are beneficial to them. This means that some of the students of the AB Political

Science were doubtful on the significance of the mock election to their participation

in politics or they were skeptical on the fact that organizing such mock elections

cannot help them be involved on the political scene because real election does.
 The analysis of the official tally of the mock election is the gist of all the things

that happened. In here, the researcher analysed several points that affect the

decision-making of the voters when it comes to who they vote and win.

Name of Total Number of Name of Total Number of

Candidates Votes Candidates Votes
Abejo 4 Gadon 49
Afuang 1 Generoso 2
Aguilar 4 Go 51
Albani 9 Guigayuma 1
Alejano 9 Gutoc 9
Alfajora 3 Hilbay 16
Alunan 4 Jangao 0
Angara 64 Javillana 1
Aquino 37 Lapid 16
Arceg 1 Macalintal 3
Arellano 5 Mallillin 0
Arias 1 Mangondato 0
Austria 1 Mangudadatu 9
Baldevarona 2 Manicad 17
Binay 43 Marcos 56
Bong Revilla 0 Matula 0
Caceres 0 Meniano 1
Casino 2 Montano 4
Cayetano 46 Nalliw 1
Chavez 2 Ong 45
Chong 29 Osmena 30
Colmenares 14 Padilla 3
De Guzman 1 Pimentel 48
Dela Rosa 19 Poe 83
Diokno 23 Roleda 2
Ejercito 27 Roxas 6
Enrile 29 Sahidulla 3
Escudero 1 Tanada 1
Estrada 19 Tolentino 32
Francisco 2 Valdes 3
Gaddi 0 Villar 76
Table III: Official Tally of Votes for Senators

Table III shows the official tally of votes for Senators from the first years up to

the fourth years. In this data presented, the researcher drew an analysis on the

candidates that garnered the least votes. Among 7 out of the 62 candidates do not

gain any support from the voters. Six (6) of which are those who are infamous in the

political scene. In other words, their names do not ring a bell in the arena. There are

two factors that can explain why these 6 garnered no vote from the voters: first, they

are not popular; second, lack of political strategy.

As to Millin (2014), gaining popularity is essential in winning in politics. She

also added that media and media are in fact the biggest platforms if you want to be

known. Clearly, these 6 candidates do not own any advertisement on TV and Radio,

and so, it is undeniable that they are not that popular to the voters.

Another factor that influenced their popularity is their tailbacks on their

political strategy. Candidates like Jangao and Mallillincan be said to have a poor

political strategy because they are Independent Candidates, the fact that they are

not really known in the political scene is aggravated by the fact that they also lack

political machineries to reinforce their platforms and to increase the chance of them

winning the election. Candidates like Matula and Mangondato, on the other hand,

both came from an unpopular political party. Matula is from the Labor Party

Philippines (Workers and Peasants Party) and Mangondato is from the Katipunan

Party (UP Political Society, 2016). Although these candidates came from a political

party, the researcher still concluded that they lack political strategy because these
parties mentioned were considered to be minor political parties with few members in

it (PhilSociety, 2019).

As to the only candidate that garnered no vote but is considered to be

popular, Bong Revilla may not have gained any support from the voters of Political

Science because of the case filed against him several years ago. Plunder is no joke.

And so even if his cased was dismissed, a lot of people still believe that he is

involved in the pork barrel scam. One student from the second year stated that,

“Feeling ko po guilty po talaga siya pero iba pa rin po talaga siguro ‘yung

impluwensiya niya”. While the other student stated that, “Voting him means forgiving

him, and I chose not to forgive him”. With these interviews, the researcher believes

that all students of political science dislike him because of his controversial

involvement to the PDAF Scam and they believe that a legislator like him has no

place in the legislature.

In addition, a point of analysis can also be discussed in generality which is

the voting preference of the students when it comes to these candidates who

garnered the least votes: personal traits, and political parties. Personal traits can be

explained by Holian and Prysby. According to Holian and Prysby (2015), apart from

how voters see the candidates on the issues, voters also form imageries of the

personal assets and aptitudes of the candidates, and these insights are imperative

influences on the vote. One key feature of personal character is the professed

uprightness and credibility of the candidates what might be labelled an integrity

breadth.  Second, political parties’ campaign movements are an important part of the
political process in many countries. There is a strong correlation between belonging

to a political party and political opinions, preferences for biased political information,

and the persistence over time of party affiliations. Individuals who perceive

themselves as members of a political party may internalize the group’s norms or

values and use these as a guide for their own attitudes and behaviors. As a result,

influencing people to join political parties may affect individual voting preference and

election outcomes. However, existing research has not demonstrated that these

relationships are causal or whether or not affiliations alone significantly affect political

outcomes (Gerber, 2008).

Rank Name of Candidates Total Number of Votes Percentage

1 Grace Poe 83 77.57 %
2 Cynthia Villar 76 71.02 %
3 Sonny Angara 64 59.81%
4 Imee Marcos 56 52.34%
5 Christopher Bong Go 51 47.67%
6 Larry Gadon 49 45.79%
7 Koko Pimentel 48 44.86%
8 Pia Cayetano 46 43%
9 Willie Ong 45 42.06%
10 Nancy Binay 43 40.19%
11 Bam Aquino 37 34.58%
12 Francis Tolentino 32 29.91%
Table IV: Top 12 Senators of the Mock Election

Table IV shows the candidates that gained the highest votes from the first

years up to the fourth year. It can be gleaned on the table that 6 out of the 12 were

candidates eyeing for their second term. Two of them are the front-runners of this

election, Poe and Villar. As of the latest survey of the Pulse Asia (GMA, 2019), these
two are vying for the first and second position. However, we can say that Poe

consistently been considered as the top dog of this mid-term election basing it from

the surveys of both Pulse Asia Survey and SWS Survey.

Considering certain facts about these ladies that are obviously dominated the

mock election, there are two hypotheses that the researcher would want emphasize.

First, they have a good reputation. Grace Poe is the daughter of Fernando Poe, Jr.

who was a Presidential Candidate from 2004 (CNN News, 2016) whereas Cynthia

Villar is the wife of former Senator Manny Villar. They were not involved in any

controversies, thus the support of the people to them are brimming. As to Thayne

(2012), maintaining a reputation is important in weaving political standard. Having a

bad reputation or being dragged into different controversies can lessen the chance of

a person to be known and to be voted. This means that these two candidates have a

clean tab in the last election and that made them the strongest competitor of this

election.

Second hypothesis is that these two candidates are the living proof now that

women can dominate men even in the political arena. Although men still

outnumbered the women in the magic 12, it is undeniable that there were only less

than 5 female candidates out of 62 or about 8.06%. As to Dyer‒a feminist from

California (2017), politics now is not a male a bastion anymore. They can now create

a much powerful nation. With them, they can now form unions that can help women

to voice out their opinion with regard to politics and to make women known in the

politics‒because politics have no gender. This is an indication now, that since there
are powerful women that are leading the senatorial slate, they can offer help now in

strengthening women’s participation to politics and to different aspects and to help

women in battling gender inequality and of course, voicing out and legislating for the

empowerment of women and LGBTI in the community.

Another point of analysis for the Magic 12 is that majority of them came from

a political clan‒examples of this are Imee Marcos from the Romualdez-Marcos clan

from Leyte and Ilocos region respectively and Bam Aquino from the Aquino clan of

Tarlac and Nueva Ecija. These two families are recognizable in both Philippine

history and politics. The patriarch Marcos’ in 1972 declared Martial law in the

Philippines which is considered to be one of the darkest parts of our history

(Agoncillo, 2012). While the matriarch of the Aquino’s made history in overthrowing

Marcos in a Snap Election and changing back the Philippines from a dictatorial rule

to a democratic and republican rule (De Leon, 2014). Despite the fact that Marcos

was ousted, its family members are still intact in politics. Imelda‒the wife of the

former President became also a legislator, Bongbong‒the son also became a

legislator when he became a senator, Imee ‒the daughter was a governor and also a

former congresswoman and now running for the senatorial slate. These are proof

that the Marcos’ clan are still one of the unbeatable families when it comes to

politics.

One of the reasons is because of the ideology of Solid North or the Solid

North Syndrome. There were many Ilocanos in our country. According to Tatag

Norte (2017), the ideology of Solid North ranges from the Northern Luzon up to the
Central Luzon and it is a real solid vote. Another reason why this clan is still

unbeatable is because of Imelda‒a Romualdez, this is also a political clan from the

Visayas region. And so, their winning streak is combination of two forces

(Romualdez and Marcos force).

Also, media is a great factor why these candidates won the heart of the voters

of Political Science. Satterfield (2019), listed some facts about media that can help

shape politics and government. First, media can influence political opinions of voters.

Not surprisingly, the voting behaviour of the people who are interested in politics is

probably not changed by media. However, media can sway people who are

uncommitted or have no strong opinion in the first place. Second, media can

determine the behaviour of the candidates and the officials. Many good politicians

have learned that they can succeed in getting elected and in getting things done, if

they know how to use the media. US Franklin Roosevelt was famous for his ‘fireside

chats’, in which he soothed the pain of economic depression and war by talking to

citizens over the radio. President Ronald Reagan’s skills as a film and television

actor enabled him to communicate very effectively with American voters.

Government officials and candidates for office carefully stage media events and

photo opportunities. Critics believe that too much attention is focused on how

politicians look and come across on camera, rather than on how good a job they are

doing in public service. And third, media can set the public agenda. Most voters learn

about social issues from print or electronic media. The fact that the media focuses on

some issues and ignores others can help set what gets done in the government.
Media sources have often been accused of emphasizing scandal and high-interest

issues at the expense of duller but more important political problems.

Rank Name of Party-List Total Votes Percentage

1 Abono Party-List 52 48.6 %
2 Gabriela Party-List 7 6.54%
3 CIBAC Party-List 4 3.74%
4 ACT-CIS Party-List 4 3.74%
Table V: Party-list that garnered at least 2% votes of the total votes cast

The party-list system is a mechanism of proportional representation in the

election of representatives in the House of the Representatives from marginalized or

underrepresented national, regional and sectoral parties and coalitions thereof

registered with the Commission on Elections. It is part of the electoral process that

enables small political parties and marginalized and underrepresented sectors to

obtain possible representation in the House of Representatives which traditionally is

dominated with big political machineries (De Leon, 2014).

Under R.A. 7941 (Section 2), the parties shall be ranked from the highest to

lowest based on the number and percentage of votes garnered during the elections.

Only a maximum of three seats may be allowed per party. Seats are allocated at the

rate of one (1) seat per 2% of total votes obtained. Unallocated seats shall be

distributed among the parties which have not yet obtained the maximum three (3)

seats provided they have obtained at least 2% of the votes (De Leon, 2014).

With these facts given, it can now be gleaned from table 5 that only 4 party-

list garnered the 2% votes from the total votes cast. To consider a party-list to be a

winner, they need at least 3 votes which are equivalent to 2% of the total votes cast.

The leading political party here is the Abono Party-list which garnered a win in the
plurality. One of the voters who voted on Abono Party-list explains that she voted for

this party because she is a scholar of this interest group and it really helps her in her

studies. Another voter that the researcher had interviewed said that, the party-list

help his family since his family cultivates a land. This is an indication that the main

reason why this political party procured the highest votes among the voters is

because of the assistance that they can get from the political party. Also tracing back

the origin of this party, it can be concluded that this party is the party-list that

dominated Northern Luzon (ABS-CBN, 2017).

Two votes are considered void during the Mock Election. One of them voted

for two party-lists and the other voted for a political party (Otso Deretso). This is an

indication that there are still voters who do not know that only one party-list can be

voted in the party-list slate. More so, this is also indicative that there are also some

who do not know the difference between political party and a party-list. These two

voids votes for the party-list came from the first years and that is undeniable because

as was mentioned, they were first time voters.

Documentation