Voices on Election Day

“People need to respect each others opinion, and no matter what happens we have to respect who is in charge of our country. I really don’t think anyone will really move to Canada,” said Michael Kelly, a student at Flagler College.

“Last night I spent 30 minutes yelling at my coworkers who were not going to vote. That’s not a real option,” said Sarah Burnette, a Flagler College junior.

“The whole situation is just f—ed regardless,” said Kellen O’Hara, 21, a senior majoring in liberal arts. “I feel like a lot worse is going on than a couple emails…”

Angel Atiso, a sophomore at Flagler College, says, “I think it was a crazy election, but I knew who I was voting for.” Her choice: Hillary Clinton.

Flagler College student Noah Davidson said he did not vote because of the lack of say he believes he has in the election outcome. “We don’t control as much as we think we do,” he said. Another reason he said he did not vote: He did not get an absentee voting ballot from his hometown.

Morgan Goodwill, left, a junior at Flagler College, says that this election “shows how much power money has considering who the candidates are.” Mackenzie Nalewanski, right, a junior at Flagler, says, “Money can buy you lots of things including apparently the presidency.” Yasmeen Anis, center, a junior at Flagler, fears the post-election backlash that the nation might suffer regardless of who wins.

Emily Lemp, a freshman at Flagler College majoring in graphic design, cast her first ever ballot in today’s 2016 election. When asked about how she feels about the fate of the country, she said, “It depends on who gets elected. If it goes in a certain direction I’d be scared for my life…or rights of other individuals as well as my own. And if it goes in another direction I’d be worried about our economy. I mean to be honest, this is kind of a ‘pick your poison’ situation. And I just picked the one that you lose a leg and not your life. So that’s how I see it at least.”

“This is a rough election in general, and I think you are going to see a resurgence of a third party…,” says Maxwel Stone, a junior. “There are a lot of people pissed off at the system, which is a good but also a dangerous thing.”

“Most people hate the two candidates and I understand that, but I believe Hillary Clinton is the best option because voting for Donald Trump takes away the progress made by the Obama administration,” says Travis Cook.

“I am definitely motivated to vote but I’m embarrassed as an American that these are our two candidates to choose from,” says Mike Triano, a junior. “The best thing I can say is to use your best judgement when casting your vote.”

“I don’t think either presidential candidate running is best for our country and people have some strong opinions on both whether it’s -‘Trump is a sexist pig’ or ‘Hillary is a murderer,'” says Alan Friedman, a freshman. “If I had to choose I would choose Trump.”

Hunter Tuggle, 21, is a senior. He says, “If Clinton gets elected, I will most likely not go into the military. She’d make a poor commander in chief. I would not want to go into war against Russia.”

Jillian Hunt, Jr., 20, says: “I think they’re both really bad candidates. I think all the progress America has made is going to come to an end [after the election].”

Dillon Gold, 23. is a senior. He says: “I can’t wait for Trump to win and ‘make America great again’ and to get rid of this political establishment bulls—.”

Richard Smatt, 42, instructor of mathematics at Flagler College.
“It’s nuts. We have a criminal and we have somebody who speaks their mind. So when we have a criminal and somebody who speaks their mind. Who do we trust? Right? I think it’s obvious that I would never vote for a criminal… He’s not a true politician. I’m sick of it. I’m sick and tired of the lies by the politicians, and he’s not like that. I grew up with Trump in New York. He speaks his mind. He always has, always will, and will. I mean I think people don’t understand him. That other person, that lady, lies. I mean, she lies to companies and then tells the public something else. I mean, have you heard Trump do that? You know, as a matter of fact, how ‘bout this, have you heard Hilary talk about policies for the last couple weeks or the last month or so, last two months, three months? Does she talk about policies, her policies? Hmm, all she talks about is about what? About Trump’s bad, Trump’s bad, Trump’s bad. Why don’t you talk about your policies? Maybe the people will understand and see, your policies are horrible. But you know she don’t talk about it. That’s all he does is talk about what he wants to do to help [the American people] like they’re supposed to. He does that because he wants to help the American people. He doesn’t need money. He’s doing it because he wants to help people. She’s doing it for power and money. She’s money hungry. I mean, I don’t know about you but taking millions and millions of dollars from terrorist countries doesn’t bode well for me. And I don’t know how people can actually vote for that. To me that’s a disgrace but that’s my opinion. But if this is on the record I don’t really care… That’s all facts though, that’s what she does. It’s proven. It’s total corruption.”