NATCHEZ &045; Hundreds of people stepped into voting booths in Natchez Tuesday morning to cast their vote for governor and lieutenant governor.

No, it was not the real Mississippi general election, it was a mock election held in schools across the state.

Susie B. West Primary School was one of those schools to &uot;Promote the Vote&uot; Tuesday and all of the children at school &045; preschoolers, kindergarteners and first graders &045; exercised their right to vote at least in this election. Lillian Strauder knows that they can officially vote when they turn 18, something she learned in the days before the election as teachers taught the students about voting &045; the rules, responsibilities and rights.

Started in 1996, this is a statewide effort to promote voting, teaching children about the democratic process and encouraging them to get involved through Secretary of State Eric Clark’s office.

With ballot in hand and crayons waiting inside, the students stepped inside the refrigerator boxes, er, voting booths complete with a curtain for privacy.

&uot;Mark one at the top and one at the bottom,&uot; the directions came from Kacey Weadock, the Barksdale Reading tutor and organizer of the vote at West.

Then, the students, with only a little peeking in the booths by teachers giving directions, took their ballots, folded them and dropped them in the ballot box.

&uot;Fold it, fold it &045; don’t let anybody see it,&uot; kindergarten teacher Tina Rollins told her class. And just like real voting, &uot;Your vote is going to be thrown out because you marked two,&uot; she told one student.

Many students could not quite articulate why they were voting Tuesday or why it was important but they were excited &uot;because we like to vote,&uot; kindergartener Amber Stevens said.

Jordan Whitehead and Stevens, both in Rollins’ class, had an election last Friday, learning the voting process and practicing it.

The students voted on which teacher they wanted, Rollins or their preschool teacher. The class even campaigned for who they wanted to win, making posters and persuading the other students.

&uot;We are pretending to vote,&uot; Whitehead said Tuesday before stepping into the booth. &uot;We’re seeing you can be a kid and vote.&uot;

And voting means, &uot;you want somebody to win,&uot; he said.

Whitehead took a little longer in the booth than other students, &uot;thinking which one to do.&uot;

At the end of the day, the first person on each list alphabetically won &045; Haley Barbour for governor, with 115 votes and Barbara Blackmon for lieutenant governor, with 111 votes.

Whether they won because of name recognition, campaigning or because they were the first name on each list, no one will know for sure. But, Weadock stressed the importance of the children knowing they have a choice.

It is important for &uot;children to have a concept that their vote counts, how they feel is important and give them a sense of pride.

&uot;A lot of people take voting for granted. If we can start early, teaching the students to vote, hopefully we can make a difference.&uot;

In statewide mock election results, Ronnie Musgrove beat Haley Barbour 44 percent to 42 percent for governor.

Amy Tuck beat Barbara Blackmon 46 percent to 45 percent for lieutenant governor.