While the nation went to the polls on Election Day Tuesday, students at Mattie Lively Elementary School got a jump start on doing their civic duty.

QUEST teacher Valerie Powell and her group of fourth- and fifth-graders organized a mock presidential election, and the school's students cast their votes using Chromebooks or paper ballots.

The fourth- and fifth-graders created announcements and campaign posters and assisted other students with the voting process. Younger students voted with paper ballots, which included the top three polling candidates as well as three characters from educational books, who were voted on separately.

Older students got to vote on computers, where results were recorded into a spreadsheet program. Both types of ballots were later tallied.

Hillary Clinton was the students' choice with 328 votes, topping Donald Trump with 162 and Gary Johnson with 94. Grace topped the fictional characters in a close race, besting Duck 239 to 222, with Max coming in third with 87.

The primary lesson Powell hopes the students take from the mock election is the importance of participating in our democracy by voting.