Sweet victory: Iowa (cookie) caucus results are in

Forget the measly presidential contest. The 5th graders of Hillis Elementary in Des Moines, Iowa have rendered a verdict on a more important question: what's the best kind of cookie?

Today's cookie caucus was the culmination of an electoral process that began before Thanksgiving last year. Students were instructed in the history of electoral campaigns and divided into groups to prepare reports about the meaning and importance of caucusing, according to their teacher Kellie Tu. They then registered the rest of the students at Hillis Elementary (grades kindergarten through 5th) as voters. When students returned from turkey celebrations in November, the campaigning began in earnest; posters decorated school walls, and pleas were made via school PA system.

The candidates? Sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and cookies with M&M's.

Today, caucuses were held in three precincts (the three 5th grade classrooms). Voters were checked in at the door, instructed in the caucusing process by a student moderator, and given a brief pitch by each cookie's representative. The sugar cookie's representative apparently encouraged voters to "catch sugar fever." Alas, the winner was perpetual favorite, chocolate chip.

(You can view more photos from the caucuses at the Des Moines Public School's Flickr page.)

"The pulled it off beautifully," Tu told Yahoo News on the phone when reached at the end of the school day. As students left their precincts, each received the cookie they voted for. "We get to eat our candidate!" was a common refrain, Tu said.

"They just had the best time," Tu says. "I was a little concerned that they would forget why we were doing this, but they just blew me away today."

This is the second cookie caucus held at Hillis Elementary. Four years ago, M&M took the honors, but Tu says she suspects that was because students could see the cookies before they voted, and those of the M&M variety were considerably larger.

Other popular Yahoo! News stories:
• A high school focus group: who's 'the hottest' Romney son? Scenes from the Iowa caucuses

• Take your camera to a caucus!

• Fickle Iowans and a consistent message give Santorum a chance to win

Want more of our best political stories? Visit The Ticket or connect with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or add us on Tumblr.

Handy with a camera? Join our Election 2012 Flickr group to submit your photos of the campaign in action.