On Oct. 27, less than two weeks before the United States Presidential Election of 2016, Clark Magnet had its very own mock election, in which students could vote for president and also vote on two highly debated propositions. Students were only given the option to vote for the two more popular choices for president, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. After the election, Doom announced the winning candidate to be Trump, winning 55 percent to 45 percent.

Many students took advantage of this opportunity and came down to the auditeria to participate. “It’s my God-given right to vote, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” said junior Khachik Muradyan.

Students also voted on Proposition 62, which would get rid of the death penalty. The other proposition was Proposition 64, which would legalize marijuana in the state. The majority of the vote, 63 percent, went to keeping the death penalty, while 37 percent said it should be repealed. Also, 57 percent of the students taking part in the election voted to legalize marijuana in California, with 43 percent of them saying no.

Senior Allen Deravanessian said that he enjoyed taking part in the mock election and being able to make these decisions. “I love participating in events like this because it gives you a taste of the real world and lets students voice their opinions,” he said.

U.S. government teacher Nicholas Doom organized this event, something he has been doing every election year since he began teaching at Clark. Doom received help from his 12th grade students who manned the registration tables for each grade level. The seniors in his class will also be receiving credit for working at the booths on the actual election day, Nov. 8. Senior Sandra Gadalla was one of the students helping run the mock election. “We’re trying to encourage students to vote so they can get practice for later on and be able to do their civil duty,” Gadalla said. Although 267 Clark students chose to engage in the voting process, Doom had hoped for more participation. “I wish, like in all elections, more people turned out to participate,” Doom said.