History department, clubs organize mock election

Isabel Saavedra-Weis

Quinn Christensen, Staff Writer
October 29, 2016

There’s about to be even more political buzz in the halls. A mock election is approaching. “It’s going to be similar to how officer elections were done in previous years,” Student Political Union co-president Henry Ziemer said. Students will be able to cast their votes in the small gym where representatives from both SPU and the Honors Historical Society will be waiting to “take ballots and tabulate them.”

The goal is to simulate a real voting experience in the most accurate way possible. SPU and Honors Historical Society members will count the votes on the evening of Oct. 25 and announce the winner of the school election on Oct. 26, according to Honors Historical Society advisor Jon Peterson.

“The state will… announce [the statewide winner] at a later date,” said Numi Katz, co-president of SPU.

Because the last election (and mock election) was four years ago, some students will be voting on Nov. 8.

“One of [SPU’s] goals is to engage the student body in politics and also to educate people so even though it’s a mock election, it’s really important that people are educated about who they’re voting for, especially because a lot of seniors are actually able to vote,” Katz said.

SPU hopes to hear more active discussion surrounding the event as the date draws closer.

“I hope it’s giving not only just the freshmen but members of my class, and members of the entire school, the opportunity to get a taste for [how it feels] after you’ve talked and talked and talked about this election or after you’ve heard and heard and heard about this election to then go out and put your views into action in a fairly low-risk setting,” Ziemer said.

Ziemer also noted that while the mock election itself hasn’t sparked too many conversations, the real election certainly has. “I’ve noticed a lot more people getting involved. You know, I walk down the hallway and even in primary season people were talking about the different candidates, people were talking about the issues of the election everywhere.

Oct. 29 UPDATE:  student election results  (314 of 412 students participating)

Trump: 44 (14%)

Clinton: 225 (72%)

Vacek (Legal Marijuana Now): 18 (6%)

Kennedy (Socialist Workers): 2 (less than 1%)

Stein (Green): 7 (2%)

Roque De La Fuente (American Delta Party): 4 (1%)

McMullin (Independence): 5 (1%)

Johnson (Libertarian): 9 (3%)