Sixteen-year-old Ava Rettke sat at a desk outside a classroom during lunch with a stack of papers and a yellow highlighter.

The junior at Woodside High School was not cramming before a test, she was waiting to sign in fellow students before they voted. Woodside is one of hundreds of schools statewide holding mock elections prior to and on Election Day. The process emphasizes teaching the process to students — researching options, making your own decisions, debating and finally voting. Student polls tend to be run differently depending on location, but the elections still give participants a chance to voice their opinions.

At Woodside, the efforts to coordinate a mock election was overseen by the student leadership class, particularly the election committee that handles campus elections.

Senior Josh Maine, who heads the committee, thought the mock election was a great idea for getting students involved. Maine, who is a proponent of lowering the voting age to 16, encouraged the idea of teaching the voting process to teens.

Students were given background information on the candidates representing five parties: Democrat, Republican, Green, Independent and Libertarian. Maine spent about six hours researching each candidate’s platform both domestic and foreign for the handout then distributed through social science classes. Students were able to vote during lunch on Monday and Tuesday.

Results will be tallied as a whole but also broken down by grade level. In addition, the school will look at the overall turnout for the student election.

Woodside is one of many schools recently putting on a mock election. Aragon, Hillsdale, Capuchino, Burlingame, Jefferson, Terra Nova and El Camino high schools and Westborough Middle Schools are all scheduled to have elections prior to Tuesday, Nov. 4.

The state encourages mock elections as a way to encourage students to become active voters once they are old enough to vote through MyVote California. As of Friday, 878 schools and more than 585,000 students from 53 different counties were signed up to participate. Participating schools will turn in results for an overall result release on Friday.

Parkside Elementary School in San Bruno held its election last week with an overwhelming outcome: U.S. Sen. Barack Obama by a landslide.

Obama received 93 percent of the vote, said Assistant Principal Dan Lyttle.

Teachers began talking about the election at the beginning of the school year, however, really buckled down with curriculum last week. Students were given a ballot with all the measures that will be before their parents on Election Day. Using literature prepared by the secretary of state, classes discussed the propositions. Students then filled out their practice ballot to take with them when it came time to vote. Students attended the polls during their history classes. Each student was able to take their ballot to a polling booth provided by the county.

Other stand outs from the election was overwhelming support for Proposition 3 — a measure that, if approved, would generate bond money for children’s hospitals.

Not all the elections are happening prior to Election Day. In San Carlos, the city is offering voting for children and teens that day.

This will be the second time children in San Carlos can head to the polls during a presidential election. In 2003, there was an informal survey of young people asking why they did not vote. Their answer was simple: They did not know how, said Jeri Fujimoto, supervisor of the Youth Development Unit in the San Carlos Parks and Recreation Department.

“They’re taught in school about the electoral process, democracy and government but no one taught them how to vote,” she said.

In 2004, the city set up a polling center for children at the San Carlos Youth Center. The same will be done this year. Children have the chance to vote for president, a few local measures and four statewide propositions. The ballot was lessened so to not overwhelm children. The San Carlos Youth Advisory Council, made up of students, decided which measures will most affect the lives of young people going forward. Those propositions were placed on the ballot.

This year, the city partnered with local teachers to ensure education prior to making a decision.

All the eighth grade students from Central Middle School will be taking a field trip on Election Day to the polls. To prepare, students began talking about the presidential race and factors to consider since the beginning of this school year.

Kay Burg teaches American history at Central. The curriculum already focuses on elections and the stock market. Students began following certain stocks and issues earlier this year, she said.

“We’ve been keeping a running total of the Dow Jones; which stocks are failing, who is going bankrupt, ... price of oil,” she said.

The economy is such a big issue and a large part of the election, she said.

“They’re like little sponges and they’re interested. They are part of the democratic process. They can vote and their vote can count,” she said.

Information on the candidates will be given to students the day before the field trip so children can make up their minds at home.

To see the outcome of the local student mock elections, check the Daily Journal edition on Wednesday, Nov. 5.

Heather Murtagh can be reached by e-mail: heather@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 105.