When organising school elections, it is a good idea to clarify the answers to the following questions:
Organisers, funding and resources
Why do we want to organise the school elections? What is their goal?
Where and to what extent do we want to organise the school elections; locally or nationally?
Who is in charge of the organisation (the central government and/or an organisation)?
Is separate funding needed, and if so, where is the funding obtained? Is there a central government budget available, or will the school elections be organised as part of a project?
How many human resources are available for the organisation?
Schedule
How much time has been reserved for organising the school elections?
When will the school elections be organised? Will they be organised in connection with official elections or as separate elections?
Partnerships with different parties
Will academic research be carried out in connection with the organisation or will information be collected systematically from the beginning?
Where will the elections for young people be organised? At schools, libraries, youth facilities or other communities for young people?
How will the parties organising the school elections be reached and recruited?
Will political parties or their youth organisations participate in the organisation of the school elections by e.g. visiting election locations, participating in election panels or providing material related to the election themes?
How will awareness of the school elections be spread and how will participants be engaged in the elections?
What is the role of the media in relation to the school elections? What is the desired media approach to the topic (democracy education vs. election results or the number of participants)?
Materials
What kind of material must be delivered to the voting locations regarding the practical implementation and organisation of the elections (e.g. instructions for the organisation of the election locations)?
What kind of material do we want to produce in connection with the school elections (e.g. related to democracy education and instructions for the voting day)?
When will the material be available at the voting locations of e.g. schools?
If a survey or feedback collection is carried out in connection with the school elections, what is their content?
If the elections are organised in connection with official elections, will a separate election compass for young people be created?
How will the materials be distributed to the widest possible audience?
What materials will be needed on the voting day (e.g. voting slips and envelopes or a digital voting environment)?
Practices in schools/other voting locations
What type of voting system will be used in the elections?
How can the voting be made as similar to official elections as possible? What voting practices can be implemented from official elections?
How many organiser resources will be needed at the voting locations? What kinds of responsibility roles? What instructions will they need?
Where will the votes be collected and how will they be counted? Manually or digitally?
Counting the votes and publishing the results
When will the results be published? Before or after the official elections?
Where will the results be published? To whom and for how long are they available?
How accurately will the results be published (e.g. school/area-specific?)
Will a separate election night gathering be organised? What needs to be taken into account when organising such an event?
How can we get the media and public discussion interested in school elections and democracy education?
Assessment and development after the school elections
If feedback will be collected or research will be carried out on the school elections, what is the schedule for this? How will the collected information be used?
What indicators will be used to assess the organisation of the school elections?
How could school elections be organised regularly?