A Schools General Election has been organised by Aberdeenshire Council's Electoral Participation Sub-Group and will be held in seven schools in the run up to the 2010 UK Parliamentary General Election.

Pupils will own the project at every stage – nominating their own candidates, running their own campaigns, staffing polling stations and counting the votes.

Each school will run its own contest as part of a single constituency, with five senior pupils at each school standing as candidates for one of the main political parties.

The five parties in Scotland represented at either the Holyrood or Westminster parliaments were invited to take part and endorse the project: The Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, SNP and the Scottish Green Party.

Each has nominated a senior representative to be filmed for a DVD, which will be made available to the pupil candidates who will represent those parties. The film gives each party a chance to highlight their policies and political philosophies.

The project aims to raise awareness amongst young people of the importance of voting and engaging in the democratic process.

All of the pupils involved will be reaching the age of majority over the next few years and so the process is designed to be as realistic as possible, involving members of the Aberdeenshire Elections Team and the Electoral Registration Service, using authentic elections equipment and procedures as far as possible.

Modern studies teachers will work with pupils in the run-up to the elections, discussing the nature of the five parties, as well as their policies and manifestos. Part of the project will see the young people draw up their own manifesto proposals, retaining the parties' core elements.

Pupils will register to vote and will even be provided with poll cards.
They will then have the chance to cast their vote, at a local polling place. However, as in real life, voting will not be compulsory.
A teacher will act as election coordinator within each school, supported by other teachers who will mentor teams of pupils.

Classrooms will be given over to the parties at lunchtimes for the duration of the campaign and teachers will oversee the candidate selection process, the selection of a party agent and the creation of a team to support the candidate.

The mentor will also ensure that their party team accurately represents the policies of the national party.

Roles will also be available for pupils to play the part of the media, with training offered in media skills by the council's Media Unit.
Aberdeenshire Council's elections website will create an area for candidates' manifestos to be displayed, and where each school can highlight its own elections.