Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon believes students may get satisfaction in voting as the upcoming presidential election approaches.

According to Simon, Students Vote 2016 is the first mock election to bring together high schools in Minnesota.

Kids in St. Louis Park can see how kids in Duluth or kids in Mankato voted,” Simon said.

Simon said when he came into office last year, he sought to expand awareness about voting.

“We discovered that there were a couple of other states, but only a couple, who had tried something like this in the past,” Simon said.

Simon said the election will not include topics such as congress or state legislature, only the presidential election.

Junior Kane Balance said he believes it would benefit Park students to be able to vote for more than just the president.

“Just (vote for) the president first and if that goes well then they can vote on more things,” Balance said.

Social Studies department head Carley Kregness said the mock election will make students more comfortable with the voting process.

“It encourages them to think about the things they care about, the issues and begin to get involved as a citizen,” Kregness said.

Simon said he looks forward to the conversation Students Vote 2016 will start.

“I hope that students, teachers and others will look at the results and say ‘why is it that they voted a certain way in Bemidji?’” Simon said.

Balance said he thinks the election will result in a lot of differing opinions.

“I think it will be really balanced because there are a lot of different views from students,” Balance said.

According to Kregness, the election will be held on Oct. 19 during Social Studies classes. The results of the election will be posted on the Minnesota Secretary of State website on Nov. 1.