As University of Michigan
students line up at the polls
Tuesday to select either
Democratic presidential nominee
Hillary Clinton or Republican
presidential nominee Donald
Trump as the 45th President
of the United States, some are
expressing more hesitancy than
enthusiasm as they cast their
ballot and wait for the results.
The race in Michigan has
significantly narrowed in the
final weeks leading up to the
election, after Clinton’s lead in
Michigan of 11 percent as late as
October 21st diminished to a lead
of only three percent t heading
into Election Day, according to
the RealClearPolitics polling
average.
Both the Clinton and
Trump campaigns have spent
considerable amounts of time in
the state during the last week.
On Monday, both Clinton and
Trump held events in Allendale
and Grand Rapids, and multiple
surrogates visited as well,
including a stop from President
Barack Obama in Ann Arbor.
In the final Michigan Daily
student survey before the
election completed on November
6th, 76 percent said they would
vote for Clinton, 13 percent would
vote for Trump and six percent
for Gary Johnson. However,
in the same survey, only 32.1
percent of Clinton voters and
11.5 percent of Trump voters
said they were “excited” at the
prospect of a presidency of their
chosen candidate. This trend
mirrors the national perception
of the two candidates, with
54.4 percent viewing Clinton
as “unfavorable” and 58.5
percent viewing Trump as
“unfavorable,” according to the
RealClearPolitics polling average.
Some students at the polls
Tuesday echoed this sentiment,
including LSA senior Anam Shah
who said he cast his ballot for
Clinton, but may have chosen
differently if he had a choice of
other candidates.
“Honestly, it’s pretty much a
lesser of two evils,” Shah said. “I
am not a fan of her foreign policy,
domestically, she’s perfectly
fine; given any other Democratic
nominee and I had a choice, I
may not have gone with her.”
Echoing Shah’s sentiments,
LSA junior Dom Hamid said he
doesn’t find either candidate
appealing, but cast his ballot
for Trump as a vote against the
political establishment that he
feels Clinton embodies.
“Both candidates are the
most unfavorable candidates in
modern history; I don’t care for
either of them, I don’t respect
either of them,” Hamid said. “I
voted for Trump because my vote
was mostly an anti-establishment
vote, I think that the Clintons
really encapsulate about what is
really wrong about government
these days just in general.”
Law student Michael
Trombetta said he voted for
Clinton, but also expressed
discontent with the choices.
“It sucks that we picked these
two people, because they’re both
clowns, honestly, they’re both
clowns.” Trombetta. “It just
sucks that this is what we’re left
with, but honestly, I just want
to be alive in four years and I
feel like Hillary gives me that
chance.”
Ann Arbor resident Ryan
Wolande, who graduated from
the University in April, wouldn’t
share who he voted for, but
expressed distaste by saying
he thinks this election is an
extremely poor reflection on the
United States.
“I am not going to say who
I am voting for but you can say
it is not either of the two main
candidates,” Wolande said. “This
is a shit show, this is terrible,
this is an embarrassment as a
country.”
Vicki Lawrence, also an Ann
Arbor resident, said she cast her
vote for Clinton. She also said
though she’s been voting since
the 1970s, this election cycle was
her most tumultuous.
“Oh it was horrible! We all
know that, I don’t know anybody
on any side who doesn’t say
that,” Lawrence said. “I think
the amount of vilification, the
amount of negativity, and of
course the craziness of it, but I
think Hillary’s been by and large
a voice of sanity in the midst of an
awful lot of craziness.”
LSA junior Drew
Summersett, said he voted for
libertarian candidate Johnson
because he felt he couldn’t justify
a vote for Clinton or Trump.
He said he found Trump to be
rude and selfish, and cited his
questionable business tactics as
reasons for his decision.
“I cannot in good conscience
vote for the main party
candidates,” Summersett
said. “Trump’s not a good
businessman in terms of other
people besides himself, and I
don’t want that kind of person as
my president.
Clinton’s email scandal also
played a role in his decision,
Summersett said. He added that
as a member of the military, he
questions Clinton’s responsibility
despite her being recently
acquitted by the Federal Bureau
of Investigation.
“For Hillary, yes, she’s
been acquitted twice for the
email thing, but I’m actually
a military member myself
and for us if anything like
that happened even once
that’s enough to go to jail
for,” Summersett said. “For
someone who has so much more
authority and responsibility
than me to be able to get away
with something like that, not
to mention she should know
better, I don’t want that as my
commander in chief.”
Similarly, LSA freshman
Sarah Riedel said the choice for
president wasn’t preferable, but
“I voted for Trump because I
believe that he is the lesser of two
evils in this campaign,” Riedel
said.
However, some students were
more enthusiastic about their
choice — either because of the
candidate they selected, or over
concerns about their opponent.
LSA senior Matt Sehrsweeney
said although he doesn’t love
Clinton, it was an easy choice
for him to vote for her because
he believes Clinton has many
similarities to Obama.
“I don’t love her at all, but
I think in many respects, she’d
make a very good President,”
Sehrsweeney said. “I don’t like
her foreign policy at all, but she
is astoundingly well prepared
to be President and I think
domestically she supports some
important things.”
Another student, LSA senior
Molly Weiss, also said she was
enthusiastic to vote for Clinton,
rather than simply voting for
her because the alternative was
Trump.
“I’m definitely excited to be
voting for her (Hillary),” Weiss
said. “It’s not just to sort of
outrule the other candidate.”
Rackham student Nikolas
Midtunn also voted for Clinton,
but said he misses when the
tone between candidates was
more civil and the prospect of
the Republican winning was less
frightening.
“I’m almost nostalgic for
previous elections, like Mitt
Romney and George Bush, they
seemed so innocent,” Midtunn
said. “I’ve voted Democrat my
whole life, but the stakes just
seemed so much lower, it was so
much safer.”
Law Prof. Michael Bloom,
who voted for Clinton, instead
expressed fear at the prospect of
a Trump presidency.
“It (the election) has gotten
me more fired up about politics,”
Bloom said. “I went to college
here, I graduated 10 years ago,
and I was a history major, and
I took classes on the rise of
Naziism and vimer Germany, and
a lot of that redirect sounded too
familiar.”
Many students are facing long
wait times to vote as lines snake
through University buildings
with peak waits of up to two
hours, and both state election
limitations or higher than usual
voter turnout could be factors.
At 8:00 p.m. when the polls
closed, 1,200 people had voted
in Ward 1 Precinct 1 and 868
people had voted in Ward 1
Precinct 4 at the Michigan
Union; at the Michigan League,
1,067 people had voted in Ward
3 precinct 1 and 1,137 people had
voted in Ward 3 precinct 2. As of
Tuesday afternoon, wait times
were estimated at 40 minutes
for Ward 3 precinct 2 and over
90 minutes at Ward 1 precinct
1. Since then, wait time at the
League’s precincts has dropped
to about 10 minutes. At 8:00
p.m. at the Union, the lines were
empty.
Engineering
junior
Karen
Xiong said she was frustrated
with the long voting lines on
Election Day, adding if she had
more classes today she may not
have waited to vote.
“I think the waiting times are
ridiculous and they should even
it out more, because I’ve heard
people saying other places don’t
really have lines,” Xiong said.
“Honestly, if I had more classes
today, I probably wouldn’t have
waited this long.”
LSA
freshman
Lauren
Chapman also said she had
been in the line for Ward 1,
Precinct 1 for about a half an
hour around 5 p.m. She said she
was not going to leave and come
back, but wait - even though
she said organizers told her the
wait would be two hours due to
incorrect districting this year.
“I debated not voting just
because of the wait,” Chapman
said. “I don’t think anyone wants
to wait in this line, especially
because in Ward 4, there’s no
line, so that’s super frustrating.”
A third student, Engineering
sophomore Andrew Kruper said
he got to the polls around 4 p.m.
At the time of his interview with
the Daily, he had been waiting
an hour. He said he expected to
wait at least two hours total with
what poll officials were telling
students waiting in line.
“(The election process) has
been really annoying to hear
about for the past year and
a half, but it’s almost over,”
Kruper said, highlighting that
though the wait was long, he was
enthusiastic to vote and see the
results later in the evening.
Ecology
and
evolutionary
biology professor Meghan Duffy
also
expressed
concern
on
Twitter over the long lines at the
Michigan Union, even though it
was not her polling place.
“Very long voting lines at
Michigan
League,”
Duffy
tweeted. “Student leaving
said she waited an hour to
vote but line is now twice as
long.”
Contrary to what other
election officials at polling
places may have announced
to voters, Jim Wessel Walker,
Precinct Chairman in Ward
1, Precinct 1 said the delay in
voting was not due to an Ann
Arbor ordinance, but rather
due to a lack of preparation
for the high number of voters.
“It’s not a city ordinance
or anything like that, it’s just
that’s how many electronic
poll books. The hang up is
the poll book. We’re issuing
about one ballot a minute
with our two poll books.”
A poll book is the machine
that
reads
and
records
ballots.
Tweets
Follow @michigandaily
Jeremy Parks
@j_mitchell47
Really encouraging to see so
many people out to vote @
umich this afternoon! Don’t
mind waiting if it means
everyone is casting a ballot.
Sanela
@suhnella
When I went to vote there
were 2 people in line....and
some of y’all are waiting an
hour and a half
Zolo
@TeeRoy_20
In line to vote for the first
time ever #Murica
Marcus McCall
@Lordmajor_
If you can vote and you don’t,
you can’t complain with the
results tonight
2A — Wednesday, November 9, 2016
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
BRIEF: STUDENTS LACK ENTHUSIASM FOR CANDIDATES AT POLLS
The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the
University OF Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office
for $2. Subscriptions for September-April are $225 and year long subscriptions are $250. University affiliates are subject to a
reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a
member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press.
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327
www.michigandaily.com
ARTS SECTION
arts@michigandaily.com
SPORTS SECTION
sports@michigandaily.com
ADVERTISING
dailydisplay@gmail.com
NEWS TIPS
news@michigandaily.com
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
EDITORIAL PAGE
opinion@michigandaily.com
HUSSEIN HAKIM
Business Manager
734-418-4115 ext. 1241
hjhakim@michigandaily.com
SHOHAM GEVA
Editor in Chief
734-418-4115 ext. 1251
sageva@michigandaily.com
LAURA SCHINAGLE
Managing Editor schlaura@michigandaily.com
EMMA KERR
Managing News Editor emkerr@michigandaily.com
Senior News Editors: Allana Akhtar, Jacqueline Charniga,
Emma Kinery, Camy Metwally, Katie Penrod
Assistant News Editors: Riyah Basha, Kevin Biglin, Caleb
Chadwell, Tim Cohn, Will Feuer, Nisa Khan, Jennifer Meer,
Lydia Murray, Caitlin Reedy, Alexa St. John
CLAIRE BRYAN and REGAN DETWILER
Editorial Page Editors
opinioneditors@michigandaily.com
Senior Opinion Editors: Caitlin Heenan, Ben Keller, Anna
Polumbo-Levy, Rebecca Tarnopol, Stephanie Trierweiler
MAX BULTMAN and JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com
KATHLEEN
DAVIS and ADAM THEISEN
Managing Arts Editors
arts@michigandaily.com
Senior Arts Editors: Caroline Filips, Melina Glusac, Jacob
Rich, Ben Rosenstock
Arts Beat Editors: Matthew Barnauskas, Christian Kennedy,
Rebecca Lerner, Natalie Zak
AMANDA ALLEN and GRANT HARDY
Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com
ANJALI ALANGADEN and FRANCESCA KIELB
Managing Design Editors
design@michigandaily.com
Senior Design Editors: Kaitlyn Beukema, Michelle Phillips,
Ava Weiner, Jacob Wellins
KARL WILLIAMS
Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com
Deputy Statement Editor: Nabeel Chollampat
Statement Photo Editor: Zoey Holmstrom
Statement Lead Designer: Shane Achenbach
Statement Creative Director: Emilie Farrugia
EMILY CAMPBELL and ALEXIS NOWICKI
Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com
Senior Copy Editors: Danielle Jackson, Taylor Grandinetti
NIVEDITA KARKI
Managing Online Editor nivkarki@michigandaily.com
Senior Web Developers: Dylan Lawton, Bob Lesser
LEVIN KIM
Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com
Senior Video Editors: Michael Kessler, Abe Lofy, Emma
Winowiecki
DEMARIO LONGMIRE and TONI WANG
Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com
Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Sabrina Bilimoria, Christian
Paneda, Ashley Tjhung
MICHAEL SCHRAMM
Special Projects Manager
EMMA SUTHERLAND
Managing Social Media Editor
PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION
photo@michigandaily.com
NEWSROOM
734-418-4115 opt. 3
CORRECTIONS
corrections@michigandaily.com
Editorial Staff
Business Staff
ASJA KEPES
Sales Manager
ANNA HE
Special Publications and Events Manager
SONIA SHEKAR
Digital Marketing Manager
EMILY RICHNER
National Accounts Manager
JULIA SELSKY
Local Accounts Manager
CLAIRE BUTZ
Production and Layout Manager
Senior Photo Editors: Zoey Holmstrom, Ryan McLoughlin, Zach Moore
Assistant Photo Editors: Claire Abdo, Sinduja Kilaru, Sam
Mousigian, Marina Ross, David Song
Senior Sports Editors: Betelhem Ashame, Minh Doan, Jacob
Gase, Kelly Hall, Ted Janes, Kevin Santo
Assistant Sports Editors: Chloe Aubuchon, Laney Byler, Chris
Crowder, Sylvanna Gross, Mike Persak, Orion Sang
Senior Social Media Editors: Ellie Homant, Carolyn Watson
COLLEGE BROKE.
puzzle by sudokusyndication.com
Voter turnout downtown reaches
1,000 at student-heavy precincts
Students find long lines, peak wait times of up to two hours at many locations
CALEB CHADWELL
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com