WINNEMUCCA - Rebecca Lee's junior high students cast their votes for president, representative and senator this week as part of the My Voice National Student Mock Election.
The mock election, which ran from Oct. 25 through Nov. 6, allowed students to participate in the election by voting for real candidates on paper ballots or online.
According to the project's website, the mock election "makes it possible for students to engage directly in their community by casting a vote in the national and state elections, along with taking part in polls and a civic project."
Lee's seventh grade reading and eighth grade U.S. history classes participated in the mock election and learned about the voting process in the weeks leading up to Nov. 6.
To prepare her classes to vote, Lee provided her students with literature on the candidates and played them clips of the debates. She also taught lessons on the United States Constitution, the Electoral College and the impact of negative campaigns.
"Truthfully, getting to vote is a privilege," student Tanner Ames said about the mock election. "Even though at this point it doesn't count, at least we get a little view on politics."
Lee said she had participated in other methods of voting with her students in the past, but this was the first year she used the national mock election. She said there are several other websites and activities that teachers use, but this particular one provides statistics for students to review and is easy to use.
"I have always had my kids vote," she said after school Tuesday, "and now I can show them nationwide results."
The national mock election not only allows teachers and students to view their own classes' voting results, but also provides them with state-wide and nationwide voting statistics.
"I thought it was awesome that we got to vote and see who won overall," student Gabriella Lopez said Wednesday after mock election and actual election results were finalized.
This year's results are currently up on the website and the final number of electoral votes that President Barack Obama received by students across the country is 460, leaving Mitt Romney with 78.
In the state of Nevada, Obama received 70.5 percent of students' votes.
Out of approximately 180 students that participated in Lee's election, 95 students voted for Romney, 82 voted for Obama, 3 voted for Gary Johnson, and 2 voted for Virgil Goode.
The students also voted for senator and representative; Dean Heller and Mark Amodei came out on top by a large margin.
The students were also polled on what issues they feel are most important and the majority of students, 68, voted that the economy is the most important issue in our country. Healthcare followed with half the number of votes.
When polled on the issue of energy, 97 students voted that "we should invest in clean, renewable sources of energy, especially solar and wind-power." Under the issue of healthcare, the majority of students voted for universal coverage.
Lee said that she thinks some students get their voting tendencies from their parents, but not all.
"It is always interesting to see who wins," Lee said. "I did hear some kids saying they were voting against their parents, but I think a good bit of them do follow their parents' votes."
Although the votes don't really count toward the real election, students still felt that it was a worthwhile project to participate in.
"I felt grown up and important," student Kassidy Kirby said after the election was over.
Student Jessica Houston was also glad that she was able to participate in the project.
"Even though I'm not heard, it felt good to vote for myself," she said.
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