Given a chance to vote on some items on this year's ballot, Washington students supported wider background checks for gun sales and smaller classroom sizes for themselves.

The Secretary of State's office traditionally holds a mock election for students from kindergarten through high school, with some of the races on the actual ballot. This year it included the three initiatives and the U.S. House race in the district where the students live. With balloting available online, some 18,000 students voted.

Initiative 594, which would expand background checks currently required for sales from licensed dealers to most private sales, passed with more than 68 percent of the vote. Initiative 591, which wouldn't allow the state to change background check requirements unless there was a new national standard, failed with about a 55 percent votes marked no.

Initiative 1351, which would require smaller class sizes in grades K-12 of the state's public schools, received slightly more than 51 percent yes votes. 

In Eastern Washington's 5th Congressional District, incumbent Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers got 63.5 percent of the vote against Democratic challenger Joe Pakootas. Congressional incumbents running in other districts also came out on top. In Central Washington's 4th District, Dan Newhouse edged Clint Didier in a race between two Republicans for the open seat.

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