(Nov. 4, 2008) — Patriotic music played in the background as students excitedly clustered around the Auditeria. Volunteers from Edit Khachatryan’s government class stood ready to greet voters at the door and take them to their designated booths. Red, white and blue balloons were dispersed around the room, and polling booths were decorated with the American flag and the word “VOTE.” Students moved swiftly along the line, chanting the name of the presidential candidate they supported. After they voted, the students proudly walked out of the auditeria wearing their “I voted” stickers. Teachers Nick Doom, Edit Khachatryan and Susan Giatti coordinated the day’s activities. The mock election took place on Tuesday, Oct. 28 at lunch. About 500 students participated. The Secretary of State’s office initiated the idea of a statewide mock election, allowing all secondary schools to register to vote. State results will be released next week. According to Khachatryan, the purpose of the mock election was to make students more aware of the issues and to get them to voice their opinions in actual elections when they get older. “You can’t just sit there and complain neglected to educate yourself about the issues and you didn’t vote,” Khachatryan said. “Some of the propositions are going to change our California constitution, so hopefully when it comes time to vote, they [the students] will participate.” Some students strongly support one specific candidate, while others remained independent. “I’m generally independent because I don’t passionately like either of them [presidential candidates], but I think I would go for Obama because I definitely like his running mate more,” junior Lily Mkhitarian said. “I like Joe Biden more. His [John McCain’s] views are for the wrong generation, and I think even though he (Biden) is a politician, his points are much more sensible than Sarah Palin’s. Sarah Palin just doesn’t have enough of the right experience.” Mkhitarian said she thinks it is important for students to vote because even though most are not at the legal age to vote, it is still a way for them to express their views on issues that will impact them in the near future. Clark students were not the only ones who got a chance to express their opinions at the mock election. Fifth grade students from Dunsmore Elementary School also came to Clark to participate in a small election of their own. They stood outside the auditeria and listened attentively while Doom spoke about the upcoming election and the two presidential candidates. “They had a great time,” Doom said. “They asked a lot of questions about the presidency.” When the results were finally counted, they closely resembled the results of Clark students.