On Election Day the first results from Hawaii after the polls close will come from more than 170,000 Hawaii students who voted in the Kids Voting USA program.

“;Your results will be the first to be announced on general election night. You'll be leading the way. Your voice does count,”; Linda Coble, chairwoman of Kids Voting Hawaii, told a roomful of fourth-graders at Aikahi Elementary School yesterday.

About 500 kindergarten through sixth-grade students at the Kailua school went online throughout the morning to vote for general election candidates as well as on school issues not on the official state ballot. Third-graders and younger voted on an abbreviated ballot.

State Rep. Lyla Berg (D, Kuliouo-Kahala) introduced the program to Hawaii to be used as a civics lesson, and it was up and running by 2006, Coble said. Of the 25 states participating, Hawaii is the only state in which students from public, private, home and charter schools in grades K through 12 can vote online, she said. Everyone who is registered receives a password.

The program originated in Arizona about 10 years ago after its founders discovered that voter turnout was higher when “;kids were getting parents to come to the polls,”; she said.

Coble has seen that when kids participate in the voting process, they “;can shame Mom and Dad to go and vote.”;

Most, but not all, kids said they voted along family lines, choosing the candidate favored by their parents.

Third-grader Zoe Campora said, “;I'm not really ready for a change. I like the way things are right now. I voted for John McCain because my mom and dad are voting for John McCain. I like Sarah Palin because she's like my mom — she's a hockey mom.”;

Classmate Tyce Berkey said his parents are Republicans, and “;they usually vote for the same person, but Dad is for Barack Obama.”;

Fourth-grader Cooper Moss voted for Obama “;because I know he's going to put in more biofuel, hydro energy and thermal energy, which are renewable. It's important because we're going to run out of oil and coal. ... I don't think my parents are going to vote for Barack Obama; they're Republicans.”;

Nainoa Murakoshi, a fourth-grader, said, “;I voted for Obama because he's from Hawaii ... because he's younger than McCain. I like the way he talks. I watch him on the news — about 12 times.”; His parents also favor Obama.

Anthony Graham, a fourth-grader, voted for Obama though he does not know whether his parents will. “;I like his health and economic plans. He's gonna pay for health care for lower-income people.”;