A big presidential election was held at little Leonard Elementary School last week.

Unlike the national version, there was no bombastic rhetoric about making America “great again” or building a giant wall.

Deleted emails and private meetings on airport tarmacs didn’t enter into the picture, either.

It was simply an old-fashioned exercise in democracy where the best candidates won based on merit.

A total of 133 students in grades 3-5 went to the polls to elect Kate Schweitzer as student council president and Piper McFarlin as vice president. Schweitzer garnered 31 votes, while McFarlin received 37 votes.

There were seven candidates for president and seven for vice president. All were fifth-graders.

Instead of voting in their respective classrooms, the students walked to the music room where they marked their ballots in four actual voting booths on loan to the school from Addison Township. After turning in their ballots, each student received a sticker proclaiming, “I voted!”

The booths were designed to provide students with “a real-world example of what they’ll be doing when they’re 18 years old,” said Jennifer Coggins, fifth-grade teacher.

“They’re really into it this year because of the (U.S.) presidential election,” she said. “We have a lot of debates going on in class about who should win for that.”

Students were encouraged to choose candidates whom they felt were the most qualified and would do the best job leading the school.

“Usually, they just want to vote for their friends, but we had a long discussion about voting for the right person for the right reasons,” Coggins said.

The candidates gave speeches, papered the school with campaign posters and explained to their fellow students exactly why they should vote for them.

“They campaigned for two weeks,” Coggins said. “The candidates really got into it this year. They’re trying to be good role models because other students are watching what they’re doing.

“They’re really trying to show leadership and be helpful, especially with the younger kids, helping the kindergartners on the buses and on the playground. We have a really good group this year. They’re going above and beyond.”

One thing the candidates were not allowed to do was hand out items like candy and pencils to voters. That happened in the past, but Coggins said, “We stopped that because that’s not fair.”

The election was supposed to be based purely on what the candidates had to offer in terms of ideas, personality and leadership, she explained. What a concept.