According to a press release sent today, a record number of kid voters have "elected" Barack Obama in Nickelodeon's 2008 Kids Pick the President online vote.

States the press release:

Senator Barack Obama has been declared the winner of Nickelodeon's 2008 Kids Pick the President Kids' Vote. A record-breaking number of votes -- upwards of 2.2 million -- were cast in the network's online poll. Nickelodeon has held a kids' vote every election year since 1988 and kids have correctly predicted the winner in four of the last five U.S. presidential campaigns.

In this election year's Kids' Vote, Senator Obama received 51 percent of the vote (1,167,087 total votes) and Senator McCain received 49 percent (1,129,945 total votes). Though not a scientific poll, it is worth noting that the kids are a decent predictor. This year, kids voting on Nick picked Obama and McCain as the victors of their respective primary races.

The election results were announced today, by Linda Ellerbee, host of the network's Nick News. Ellerbee said, "It's important to take not of who won the Kids' Vote simply because so many kids vote the way their parents will. But what really counts is this: they participated in democracy. They voted. How can this be anything but good?"

I'd agree, and hope for a solid showing of democracy on Nov. 4.

Kids can still learn more about the candidates on Nick's Kids Pick the President website.

Have your kids voted in any mock elections? Have they ever expressed support for a candidate that you do not support?