The Junior State of America Club (JSA) held a mock election for students under the slogan "one vote makes a difference," during lunch on Tuesday in the quad. About 150 Paly students turned up for the event and voted on the candidates and propositions of the 2006 midterm election.

"The purpose of the mock election today was to find out where Paly students stand on the election issues," senior JSA President Robert Tian said. "We wanted to see how close Paly stands to the actual California election results."

In the mock election, students voted Arnold Schwarzenegger for governor, Anna Eschoo for Congress, John Garamendi for Lieutenant Governor and Ira Ruskin for State Assembly. Students also voted yes for Propositions 83, 86, 87, and 88.

"I think it was a good idea to do the event," junior JSA Vice President Rajan Narang said. "Everybody at Paly is going to vote in a few years, so this gives them a sense of what a real election would be like."

According to Tian, JSA is planning many more events in the future, including speakers, discussions, and teacher debates. Also, in two weeks, JSA will visit Fall State, a convention where all the Northern California JSA members congregate to hear keynote speakers, discuss current issues, and debate.

Sharing a table with JSA, Peter Lo, a student council representative, asked students to vote about the controversial school calendar issue, one which students really do have a say about.

"Student Council will report the vote results to the school board," Lo said. "We’re trying to show Paly students’ opinions on what the calendar should be. Students can put in their vote anytime, since the box is in the library everyday."

Student Council encouraged students to give their opinions on ski week, finals and summer vacation.