On Tuesday, March 8, the state of Mississippi will hold its presidential primaries election, and the people will decide on their Republican and Democratic nominees. Students at MSMS held a mock election on Monday, March 7 for the faculty and the student body; two volunteers from the school’s three political clubs ran the voting booth for each of the eight school periods. The student body and faculty were permitted to vote, with the faculty voting on colored ballots.

The choices for the Democratic ballot were Bernard “Bernie” Sanders and Hillary Clinton; meanwhile, the Republican choices were Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John Kasich and Donald Trump.

Julie Heintz, sponsor of the Young Independents Club, said, “The students have been following this election race as closely as the adults. They have been paying attention to the media coverage of the candidates and we want them to understand the civic importance of being involved and voting. We chose to hold this mock primary on Monday so as the results come in on Tuesday they could compare how our school’s results are similar or dissimilar to our state at large.”

Robert Simmons was the first voter of the day. When the voters approached the booth, they were required to choose a Republican or Democratic ballot. They then circled their choices and submitted the ballots into a locked box. The box remained locked until the votes were counted after the school day.

This mock election follows up a debate that was between the Young Republicans and the Young Democrats and moderated by the Young Independents on Feb. 17. The debate’s focus was the primary frontrunners of both parties.

Young Republicans member Ariel Williams who worked the booth said, “A lot of people over the course of the past decades have fought for the right to vote. To not do it is a disservice to them.”

A total of 176 students voted in the election. There were 22 faculty and staff casting votes. The student body had an approximate 77% turnout for the election.

In the faculty election, Hillary Clinton beat Bernie Sanders seven votes to one in the Democratic primary. In the Republican primary, John Kasich won with six votes followed by Marco Rubio with four votes, Ted Cruz with three votes and Donald Trump with one vote.

In the election for the student body, Sanders won the Democratic primary with 100 votes against Clinton’s 18 votes. The students voted in Rubio as the Republican nominee with 20 votes. Trump followed with 18 votes, Cruz with 16 votes and Kasich with four votes.