Thursday marked the first time MVHS held the National Student/Parent Mock Election and California Mock General Election. By taking place five days in advance of the Nov. 4 general elections, the mock elections publish their results in the media in time to potentially affect the decisions of actual voters.

Students normally left out of the voting process were encouraged to participate in the mock election because of its political relevance.

“I [voted] to make a difference. To show, even though we don’t have an opinion, like a real opinion, it’s good to see what people think,” freshman Varun Aye said.

The results of the National Student/Parent Mock election were published the following day. The Obama/Biden ticket took 63.83 percent of the popular vote, coming first in two U.S. territories and 45 states—including Alaska. Montana, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming voted for Mccain/Palin.

Though the choice of president may have been a foregone conclusion in an overwhelmingly Democratic MVHS, the California state propositions offered more room for discussion.

“For the renewable energy stuff, because we had just finished our unit on climate change in Biology, I was really scared. I was like, wow, the world’s going to end, do something. So I supported that one,” freshman Aafreen Mahmood said.

According to Government teacher Christopher Chiang, who coordinated the mock elections, political debate was the most important result of the mock event.