On Nov. 3, Bellevue West held a school-wide mock election. Students had the option to vote for candidates throughout the day and during lunch in the commons.

Students elected Donald Trump as president, and Jeff Fortenberry to Congress.  Students also voted to repeal the death penalty.

“The mock election is a school-wide election that allows students to vote for some of the candidates and issues that will be on the real election ballot,” Social Studies teacher Louis Harrison said.

House of Representative, District Legislature, and School board candidates were integrated into the ballot, in addition to the presidential candidates.

Mock elections have taken place at West for years, and Harrison has been a part of them since the 2004 presidential election.

“I’m pretty sure they did mock elections at West before then, but I wasn’t here to verify that,” Harrison said.

In the past, the results from the mock election have matched the results from the real presidential election.

“Since 2004, students have correctly predicted the Presidential election winner,” Harrison said.

Harrison emphasized the importance of voting in the mock election, and how it plays a part of real-life political decisions.

“Hopefully it inspires them to participate in our democracy and vote when they turn 18,” Harrison said.

Harrison also expressed how the election’s success positively impacted the student body at West, and how conflicting views were seen throughout the election.

“Students have been pretty respectful of other students’ opinions as far as I could tell,” Harrison said. “We’re not perfect, but I’ve been proud of how our students have behaved so far given the strained political climate in the country as a whole.”