Darth Vader for president

By Jewell Tomazin | gargoyle@flagler.edu

Dissatisfied with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, some voters are taking matters into their own hands.

Flagler College student Christian Purser just couldn’t bear to fill in the bubble for Trump, Clinton or a third-party contender.
“I was trying to decide to write in either Darth Vader or Vince McMahon,” he said. “I eventually decided Darth Vader because not only am I a huge Star Wars fan, but I feel he would be a better choice than the ones we have currently.”

Purser said he thinks the fictional movie character would be better suited for president than the other options. He said he knows writing in his candidate “isn’t going to do any good,” but he doesn’t consider it wasting a vote “because there’s so much more on the ballot.”

A Flagler College student displays her just voted sticker.

Bernie Sanders, the runner-up Democratic nominee behind Clinton, is another choice some voters are writing today during the presidential election. Mary Seneca, employee at a St. Augustine restaurant, plans to write Sander’s name on her ballot.

“I agree with him more than any of the other ones,” she said. “I think that our country is so prone on listening to media that they’re just going to vote for whichever one is in the news more. Usually, that’s Hillary and Trump.”

While it would be highly unlikely for a write-in candidate to win the presidency — it’s never happened before — several voters have said they’re frustrated with mainstream candidates.

“I hope that people actually will (write in a candidate) because we could definitely use somebody other than Trump or Hillary,” Seneca said.

Purser said part of his motivation for writing in a candidate is he’s more concerned with the issues on the ballot than the presidential candidates themselves. He said he thinks people should focus on researching issues and educating themselves before voting.

“Regardless of what happens tonight, we need to stick together and make our country better,” Purser said.

Savannah Coursey, Roxanne Steward and Rebecca Spreitzer also contributed to this report.