Hickman students elect Obama, Nixon in mock election

COLUMBIA — The voter receives a slip of paper, fully realizing the importance that this single piece of paper holds, knowing it could be the most important decision made all year. They get one last contemplation of “Obama or McCain?” before making the selection that could determine the outcome of the 2008 election. But wait — isn’t this a day early?

This wasn't the actual election; this was high school students voting in classrooms. Hickman High School held a mock election Monday where students voted for presidential and Missouri governor candidates. The student government distributed and collected ballots in students' fourth-hour classes. Missouri sample ballots served as a template for the mock ballots, which included five candidates for president and four candidates for governor.