OUR OPINION: The results from the mock election were representative of campus’ demographics and showed students are participating in the election.

The results from Tuesday’s mock election are in, and there were some interesting outcomes.

Turnout for the mock election was statistically significant, and for everyone who voted: outstanding job. However, this is not the real thing — everyone should stay informed and either take advantage of early voting, which starts today, or head to the polls Nov. 4.

Overall, the results were representative of the campus — the gender, race, class standing and college statistics were fairly close to the actual distributions on campus.

The voter registration drives also seem to have worked — 96 percent of people voting in the mock election said they were registered to vote.

The presidential and gubernatorial races and the straight-ticket Republican voters who switched their presidential candidate votes to Sen. Barack Obama indicated some interesting possibilities.

Traditionally, North Carolina votes republican for president and democratic for governor. This year, the positions were reversed.

This may be a sign of the times and the overall electoral climate. Both Pollster.com and FiveThirtyEight.com, Web sites that sample multiple polls and calculate average poll results and project future poll results, show Obama closing the gap or overtaking Sen. John McCain in North Carolina polls.

FiveThirtyEight.com shows McCain has a slight lead in current polls (47.3 percent to Obama’s 46.2 percent), but when adjusted for polling trends gives Obama the advantage (47.5 percent to 45.9 percent for McCain). Pollster.com shows a similar trend, with a 48.5 to 47 percent split favoring Obama.

The fact that 2 percent of straight-ticket Republican voters switched their presidential choice to Barack Obama is also interesting — is this a sign of Obama’s crossover appeal? Or is it proof college campuses are more liberal than other areas? Given North Carolina’s poll numbers, the latter seems more likely.

Discussing the results of the mock election isn’t the same as discussing the real election. The issues facing the nation and each candidates’ ideas for solving these problems are on the table.

Every student’s vote could count, particularly if North Carolina is a swing state. Keep following the news, stay informed and find an early voting polling station near you or get to the polls Nov. 4.

From here on out, the votes count — don’t waste them.