Alton - Most of us wait until Election Day to cast our vote, but kindergarten through fourth graders at Alton Elementary School voted early. On Monday, the school held a mock election.

"There's these boxes with little circles and you check whoever you wanted to be president," described first grader Kobe Smith.

The students have been learning about the upcoming election in the classroom.

"Showing them that they do have a voice when it comes to choosing what goes on in society, we want to make sure that they knew the issues that were taking place so we learned about that," said Alton Elementary School Teaching Principal Nathan Dyer.

The students took turns going into private voting booths at the school and casting their vote. They seemed excited to have the chance to make their young voices heard.

"You're really supposed to be 18, but now we're down to like 10 and we can vote," said fourth grader Austin Proudfoot.

The process is good practice for when they do reach voting age.

"So when we get older, we know what we're doing," said third grader Phoebe Sanborn.

Their results will be added to data being collected from schools across the state and nationwide that are also holding mock elections.

Dyer said, "In the past, it's kind of been a predictor of the way that the actual election unfolds."

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