These were the issues - not to mention the free American-flag stickers - that drew droves of Uintah Elementary School students to the makeshift polls outside their cafeteria Tuesday for a lunch-hour presidential election.

Sorry, Mr. President.

Democratic Sen. John Kerry clearly led the grade-school crowd in Salt Lake City's Yale- crest neighborhood with 57 percent of the 500 votes cast. President Bush followed with 39 percent, and unaffiliated candidate Ralph Nader scored 12 votes.

"After listening to and watching the debates, I think [Kerry] could run the country real well," said Milo Marsden, an 8-year-old third-grader. "I think he's going to pull troops out of Iraq and stop the war."

Election organizer and Uintah parent Elizabeth Weisberg reveled in the 86 percent voter turnout at what is believed to be the school's first-ever election.

Several Utah schools are holding elections as a way to teach students about democracy and civic responsibility by casting ballots and talking with their parents and teachers about the process.

"I know they'll all go home and talk to their parents about who they voted for," Weisberg said. "I'm just amazed that so many of them are so into it."

Some students even assumed parent-volunteers' roles as election officials responsible for walking classmates through the voting process: "This piece of paper is called a ballot, and these are the candidates. Don't write your name on it. It's a secret. Just fill in the box of the person you want to vote for. No, don't tell me who it is. That's private. Only pick one person, otherwise your ballot will be thrown out. Thank you for voting. Put your ballot in the yellow box and get a sticker."

Afterward, several students shared the reasons behind their votes:

l Second-grader Zhibek Milunovich, 7: "I like his ideas and how he talks."

l Second-grader Chay Gathers, 7: "I've seen him, and he seems really nice. He helps people."

l First-grader Audrey Conner, 7: "He was very nice and he gave away money to some people."

l Third-grader George Metos, 8: "My parents are voting for him."

Others detailed why one candidate didn't get their votes:

"Bush kind of rushed into war, and he can't get out of it," said 10-year-old Jeff Dahdah, a fifth-grader.

Said another Bush detractor: "He surrounds himself with smart people, but he graduated from college with a 'C.' "

But students saw Tuesday's election as something more than just a chance to demonstrate their political savvy.

It was the first time most of them had ever voted, and they appreciated the experience.

"It makes you more of a citizen and it makes our country a better country," Milo said. "The people that wrote our Constitution made [voting] a really important thing."

rlynn@sltrib.com