BIDDEFORD — Like the majority of voters in the city and the nation, Biddeford Primary School students also backed Barack Obama as the winner in their mock presidential election on Tuesday.

According to the results, the first-, second- and third-grade students appear to be staunch supporters of the incumbent president.

The vote was 390 for Obama and only 145 for Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

Second-grade student Autumn Cote said she voted for Obama “because he’s a good president.”

Her classmate, Ruby Nguyen, said she also voted for him. The reason she gave was that “he’s nice.”

Second-grader William Nunes, a Romney supporter, didn’t get as specific as his classmates as to why he favored the Republican.

Other than the small stature of those participating, Tuesday’s election at the primary school looked just like the real thing.

Lori Flynn, a second-grade teacher who helped organize the BPS vote, which was run by the second-grade students, said it had all the elements of a real election.

Classroom teachers gave student voters registration cards that they had to fill out.

When they went to the polling place, set up in one of the classrooms, students lined up as they were checked in. The second-graders were in charge of cross referencing the registration cards with their student lists.

The little voters were then given ballots and pointed in the direction of the voting booths. Behind a curtained partition, they checked their choice on a secret ballot as to who should be the next president of the United States.

Next, pupils deposited their slips of paper in the ballot box. Students stationed there made sure all ballots were folded correctly and placed properly in the box.

After their task was complete, the exit clerks gave students “I voted” stickers.

There were even some students acting as security guards, said Flynn.

The exercise was a good learning experience for students and a lot of fun, she said.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or [email protected].