School Based

Assessment

Information Technology

Old Harbour High School

2019-2020

Trinbarjam Elections Commission 

(National General Elections)

Adopted from Information Technology Syllabus (2017)

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SAMPLE SCHOOL-BASED ASSESSMENT

Description of the Project

National general elections have been a recurring feature among the democratic territories of the
Caribbean. Every year, in one territory or another, citizens exercise their right to elect a
government of their choice. However, the exercise is not without its attendant challenges of data
management. Thousands of votes are cast on the day of the elections and an anxious, waiting
public demands speed, efficiency and accuracy in the determination of results.

In preparation for the actual exercise, the Trinbarjam Elections Commission has hired you to
simulate the elections exercise as a test run, prior to the actual elections which are to take place
shortly in your country. You are required to utilize suitable word-processing, web page design,
spreadsheet, database management as well as a programming application to design and
implement computer-based solutions to the tasks involved in the simulation of the election
process.

Spreadsheet
The Elections Commission has mandated that you design a spreadsheet that will accept pertinent
data on constituencies and candidates’ votes and generate information that would enable the
outcome of the elections to be divulged to the population in the shortest possible time. Four
parties contest the elections: The Democratic Action Party (DAP), the Workers National
Alliance (WNA), the United Progressive Movement (UPM), and the People’s Democratic
Revolution (PDR). The spreadsheet is designed to accept data from seven constituencies.

You are required to:

Task 1
1. (a) Design a spreadsheet with the below table in sheet 1.

(b) Using another worksheet design a table to record the:

● Constituency
● Number of voters (The number of voters in a constituency ranges from 6,250 to 10,795.)

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 ● Votes Cast
● Candidate’s name (​use TWO columns - First Name, Last Name​)
● Candidate rating (The rating assigned to candidates are 15, 20, 30 and 35. These ratings
were determined by the results of a recent poll conducted in each constituency by a noted
pollster. ​Each candidate in a given constituency has a unique rating.)
● Party name

You must enter data for each candidate in each of the seven constituencies. Use the Percentage
Voter Turnout data to determine the number of votes cast (​number of voters * percentage
voter turnout​).

Rename the worksheet as ​Elections Data

Save your spreadsheet as ​Elections 1

Constituency Number of Votes Cast Candidate Candidate Votes Party Refund

Voters Name Rating Received Status
North 6,250 number of Marcia 35 (Rating/100)* PDR If(Votes
voters Brown Number of Received
*Percent Voters >=(0.2*Votes
Voter Cast),
Turnout “Refund
Due”, “No
Refund”

Task 2

Duplicate the Elections Data worksheet. Rename the duplicate as Elections Data Backup.

Modify the Elections Data worksheet as follows:

1. (Insert a column before the one which displays the name of the political party. Using an
appropriate column title, determine the votes received by each candidate in a given constituency.
The candidate’s rating represents the percentage of votes received by the candidate in a
given constituency. For example, given that 6400 votes were cast and a candidate has a
rating of 20, the votes received by the candidate would be (20/100)*6400.

Format the votes received by each candidate to zero decimal places.

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 2. Sort the data first on party (ascending order) and secondly on votes received (descending
order).

3. The Trinbarjam Elections Commission needs to determine the following:

● Whether or not a refund is due to a candidate. Use an appropriately labelled column to
state “Refund Due” or “No Refund” for each candidate. A refund is due if the candidate’s
votes received equals or exceeds 20 per cent of the votes cast in the constituency.
● A list of all candidates who should receive a refund. Extract the data to the bottom of the
worksheet.
● A table with summary data for the elections

● Count the number of candidates who received more than 2500 votes
Note the following:
● Format the Percentage of Votes Cast to one decimal place with the percent symbol.
● Centre the data in the worksheet.
● Merge and centre the cells in the row with the label “Elections Data”

Charting and Summary Operations

● Generate a column graph that compares the votes cast and abstention data by
constituency. Provide an appropriate title, label the axes and display the data labels.

● Create a pivot table showing the constituencies, the candidates’ names and the total
number of votes the candidates received.

● Save your spreadsheet as ​Elections 2

Database Management

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You are asked to use a suitable application to manage data on candidates nominated to contest
seats in the general elections. Three tables must be used to store the data.
The table with relevant personal data on each ​candidate​ should include​: Candidate ID
(​candidate’s initial and three numbers​), First name, Last Name, address (​street, Town,
parish​), date of birth, gender, profession, constituency, constituency number, party
and votes received​.
The ​constituency​ data table should include: the ​constituency name, constituency
number​ and the ​number of voters​ in each constituency.
An ​elections​ data table should include: the ​constituency number ​and the ​percentage
voter turnout​ for each constituency.

The data to populate the tables must be sourced from the spreadsheet section of your
project.

You should test your database by generating queries, reports and control forms:

Queries:
1. List the name, sex, age and profession of all candidates from the People’s Democratic
Revolution (PDR).

2. List the candidate name, party, number of voters and number of votes received for
candidates in constituencies with more than 6500 voters and where the candidates
received less than 1000 of the votes. Sort the data in descending order on the number of
votes received by the candidate.

3. Using a calculated field determine the total votes cast in each constituency.

Report
4. Generate a report which lists the constituency, number of voters in the constituency,
name of candidates, gender, party and number of votes received. The report should be
grouped by constituency. Within each constituency the report should be sorted in
descending order by number of votes received by each candidate. It should also give the
total and average number of votes in each constituency. The report should have a
two-line title as follows:

“Official Results
Trinbarjam National Elections”

Control Forms

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 5. Create a form to display information about the candidates.

Word-processing
Document 1
1. Each candidate must complete and submit a nomination form to the Trinbarjam Elections
Commission. You are required to:

(a) Design a fillable nomination form. It must allow for the entry of relevant data on the
candidate, including the constituency which he/she intends to contest.

(i) The letter head (with company Logo) of the Trinbarjam Elections
Commission should be placed at the top.

Document 2

2. The results of the national elections must be delivered to each candidate. Using a suitable
feature of your word processing application:

(a) Create a document which should be mailed to the candidates. The requirements for the letter
are:
(i) It must be design on letter sized paper and must have a 0.7” margin on the left and right sides.
(ii) The commission’s letterhead (with company Logo) should be
placed as the header in The letter. The font in the letterhead should
be appropriately formatted for emphasis.
(iii) Candidate’s address.
(iv) Salutation.
(v) The first paragraph should congratulate and thank the candidates
(insert candidate’s name in the letter) for the manner in which he/she conducts his or her
campaign.
(vi) A summary table of results should be included with at least seven
rows and three columns, with appropriate formats.
(vii) The third paragraph inviting him/her to view the complete listing
of the results on the commission’s website and conclude the letter.
(viii) Close with your name, your position is Chief Electoral Officer.

Web Page Design

The Trinbarjam Elections Commission has requested that you design a web page to provide the
public with general information about the election. The web page should include the following:

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 ● The commission’s logo.
● Display information about the elections (for example the total votes received by each
party and the number of votes cast in each constituency).
● Links to the commission’s email address and a web page which displays past election
data results (this web page may or may not exist).

​Data used in the web page should be sourced from the spreadsheet section of the project.

Problem-Solving
1. Develop an algorithm to print the names of the candidates who should receive a refund.
A refund is due if the candidate’s votes received equals or exceeds 20 per cent of the
votes cast in the constituency. The algorithm should also determine and print the number
of candidates who received a refund. Test the algorithm with data from ten candidates.
The algorithm must accept as input the names of the candidates, votes received and the
votes cast in the constituency. The algorithm should print the name of the candidate and
the words “Refund Due” or “No Refund” and the number of candidates who received a
refund. ​Data to test the algorithm must be sourced from the spreadsheet section of
the project.

2. Design and execute a trace table to test the algorithm developed in question (1) above.
The table should have a maximum of ten iterations.

Program Implementation
1. (a) Develop a problem statement for the algorithm developed in question (1) above.
(b) Using the programming language Pascal or VBA, write code to
implement/automate the algorithm in question (1) above.

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