SANFORD — Presidential poll watchers, take note. Sanford High School students have made their choices and cast their ballots in a mock presidential caucus that took place Monday.

And student votes show Democrat Bernie Sanders and Republican Donald Trump should be their parties’ nominees in the upcoming presidential election.

Sanders carried 84 percent of the vote in the school’s Democrat race, followed by Hillary Clinton with a paltry 16 percent.

In the race for the Republican nod, Trump came in with 66 percent. All other Republican candidates came in far behind, with Marco Rubio taking second place with 18 percent, Ted Cruz with 8 percent, Ben Carson with 5 percent and John Kasich with 3 percent.

Although it was a little different than some caucuses – the event was built around the school day, so there were no speeches, and, for the most part, students voted online – it was a learning exercise and a look at how young people are thinking these days.

Caucuses and primaries across the country are where the action is, said Sanford High social studies teacher Paul Auger.

“The nominating process is where the direction of the party is determined,” he said. “The stakes are very big this year.”

Ten minutes into Monday’s school caucus, students were feeling the Bern. Sanders had a commanding lead over all candidates, Democrat or Republican, capturing 52.3 percent of the vote.

Trump came in with 27.3 percent of the vote 10 minutes into the voting period. And while the percentages changed as the voting continued, the early trend proved correct in the end.

Brendon Tremblay was among the Trump supporters. “I want a Republican to win” in November, he said.

“Probably Bernie,” said Rachel Williams, who said she identified with Sanders on social and environmental policies.

The high school has always held a mock election before the real thing in November, but the caucus is a first for Sanford High School, and came at the behest of Principal Marianne Sylvain, who broached the subject in January.

Auger and fellow social studies teacher Ryan Facey put their heads together and came up with a plan. One thing was for sure: they wanted to host the caucus before Maine’s Republicans and Democrats caucus on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

“The whole point was to get the kids excited and to participate in the (real) caucuses,” said Auger. He pointed out that there is no age limit to volunteer with the state caucuses, and students who will turn 18 by election day Nov. 8 can participate in a caucus.

A special voting website was designed with a three-step process in mind. Students first learned the difference between a caucus and a primary, and then were asked their thoughts on questions from the website called “I Side With” to see with whom their views were most closely aligned.

Questions ranged from a student’s stance on abortion, same-sex marriage, genetically modified food labeling, global warming and a host of social issues to thoughts on gun sales, term limits, health care and more.

Marli Wilson answered the questions, then hit the button for Sanders.

“When I did the test, he was my highest match,” she explained.

“I lean more toward Republicans,” said Isabella Troop. She said she’s liberal on social issues like gay marriage, but tends to be more conservative on other issues. “I don’t have a favorite,” she said, and was mum about how she voted.

As it turns out, the high participation rate caused some issues with the website, so some students emailed their votes, and teachers polled their students and returned those votes to the counters. In all, 368 students cast ballots.

“We were really excited to get so many students introduced to the process,” said Auger. “We had some technical glitches with so many students voting at once, but we worked around it, and saw consistent results from all the grade levels.

“No one seemed to be particularly surprised with the winners, but the margin of victory was more than many of us would have expected.”

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.