As Americans head to the polls this election season to consider who can best solve pesky national problems like health care, immigration and the Iraq war, the Walt Disney Co is pitching in with its own crucial primary of sorts: a contest to elect America’s Prom Queen.

Disney’s ABC Family network has devised a reality show that pits a field of 10 teenage girls against each other in a nationally televised contest that is sure to feature all the (ahem) camaraderie and civility of this year’s real presidential race.

The prom queen candidates will be tested on such hot button issues as “sense of style,” “ability to dance”, “prom spirit” and “planning skills.”

Just as in the real primary system, where the will of voters takes a back seat to the whims of superdelegates, a celebrity-stuffed “Prom Committee” will choose the front-runners in five weekly rounds of voting before presenting a final matchup to the nation.

ABC Family puts Prom Queen 2008 before voters, on St. Patrick’s Day, which seems appropriate somehow. Cheers Mickey!