As local residents filter through the school’s library to vote in Tuesday’s election, students are participating in the Junior World Affairs Council mock election just 50 feet away in the cafeteria.

“The point of the mock election is to raise awareness of what is occurring around the United States and to tell students that their voice matters,” sophomore Dea Divi said. “It’s also a way to education the students about the policy of the candidates.”

Although most of the people voting in the mock election are underage, JWAC members think it will be representative of how America votes.

“I think the mock election will be able to reflect the real election because we get to see what the people in our school are thinking about it and a lot of the times the kids reflect views of their parents so they’re most likely going to vote for what their parents are voting for,” sophomore Kierra Lewis said. “I think that my voice matters because everyone should have a say in what happens in their lives”

Even though the mock elections doesn’t count, it’s proving to be a valuable learning experience for some students.

“I’m participating in the mock election by voting and during the debate I also submitted questions to the parties,” freshmen Mia Choi said. “I think it’s a good reflection because both parties have to state their cases to a group of voters and the voters got to decide who they wanted to vote for. I think this election helped me gain better decision making skills by judging both sides of the case so maybe in the future when I decide to vote, then I can make a better decision.”