Students choose Clinton for president in GHS mock election

Election day arrived early for GHS students thanks to the mock election held on Tuesday by the social studies department and members of the dual-enrollment Endicott program.

“In past years, we had a political science club that held these elections. But no one was doing it this time around, so the social studies department took it on,” said history teacher Rich Francis. “My E-block Endicott dual-enrollment class is helping out because a lot of their curriculum is based on international issues, and many of them are interested in the election anyway.”

Students from every grade were able to vote for one of the four major candidates and cast their ballots at both lunches.

Hillary Clinton won the election with 47.5 percent of the votes, while Trump came in second with 30.8 percent. The other 21.7 percent of students voted for Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, or a write in candidate.

“I voted for Hillary because I watched the debates and feel as though Hillary was the most presidential of the two,” said junior Soo Ae Ono. “She knew what she was talking about and it seems like she could lead our country well.”

“I feel like Trump is the better of two evils,” said junior Kory Hurd, who voted for Trump. “Hillary might go to war with Syria and Russia and I don’t want to be drafted into that. They both have policies that I don’t agree with, but I agree with Trump more than Hillary.”

Other students sided with the two minority party candidates. Some also wrote in candidates that were not listed.

“I voted for Jill Stein because I don’t want to see the other two win,” said junior Jessyca Muniz.

“I wrote in Vermin Supreme because I like the idea of having free ponies and dental care, and having the country’s electricity be run on zombie power,” said senior Jacob Belcher. “He’s the only candidate who would go back in time and kill baby Hitler.”

History classes also took the ISideWith.com test that shows students which candidate they support based solely on their stances on political issues.

“We had the kids go onto ISideWith.com to see which candidate they align with based on policy, not just what they see on TV,” said Francis.

After completing the test, students filled out a survey created by the social studies department to determine how many students side with the major candidates, and what their views on the ballot questions are.

They were also asked to fill out basic information about themselves, such as their gender, grade, where they went to elementary school, and what level history class they are in.

“We created this survey to look at what types of kids voted for certain candidates,” said Francis. “We’ve seen that more students are aware of this election than past ones, or at least know who the candidates are.”

“Some students can already vote, while the rest of the school is only a few years away from being eligible,” said history teacher Timothy Kearns. “Now is the time for students to become invested in political knowledge and understand how the government works, and the issues that affect them.”

“Overall, I think the election went very well,” said Kearns. “The students conducted the election with a great amount of seriousness and respect, which is how a voter population should act.”