In the aftermath of one historical presidential upset, ASU students have remained divided on the results.
Many students expressed surprise — some pleasant surprise, others not — for the results of the election. Most commonly, students said they were frustrated.
Click the map to create your own at One student who felt taken aback by the 2016 Presidential Election was Bryden Lindauer, a kinesiology freshman.
“Overall, I was pretty surprised — I honestly thought Hillary Clinton would have won by a landslide,” Lindauer said. “Hopefully everything turns out well.”
Other students, such as exercise and wellness junior Kelly Harper thought the election went in favor of students and said he was satisfied with the results.
“I didn’t ever really want Hillary to win, so it didn’t really matter who won as long as it wasn’t Hillary,” Harper said. “I wasn’t going to vote for Trump. I was going to vote for third party, but in the end I voted for Trump.”
There were also students who expressed their political opinion by not voting. Public relations sophomore Daniella Rudoy said that by not voting, she showed her dismay with both major candidates.
“I did not vote because I wasn’t confident enough in either candidate,” Rudoy said. “It’s interesting to see America’s attitude and mindset because I think that for such a long time they didn’t have someone to represent them properly.”
ASU Students react to the 2016 presidential election from The State Press on Vimeo.
Video by Carly Henry
Medical studies freshman Kaelynn Murillo felt similarly to Rudoy.
“I honestly don’t care for the election," she said. "I think we’re screwed either way."
The Morrison Institute released a survey in October — which was accurate in many of the races, but not the presidential.
Thom Reilly, the director of the Morrison Institute, said significant events that happened after their poll, such as FBI Director James Comey's letter regarding Hillary Clinton's email scandal, may have helped cause this.
"You had a lot of stuff happening, and as time went on, there were other significant impacts," Reilly said. "The other thing about the presidential race was there was a large amount of undecided (voters) in October."
At the ASU polling location in the Tempe Sun Devil Fitness Complex, Arizona Advocacy Network, a nonpartisan group, offered rides for students who were deferred to different polling locations.
This caused some concern for other voters, as they feel ASU students could have possibly been given more information about the ASU polling location before showing up.
Laura Burpee Austin volunteers with the Arizona Advocacy Network and said voters weren't necessarily armed with the correct precinct information before they showed up to the polls.
“I am disappointed, but not surprised (about the election)," she said. "I think it is a true representation of the majority sentiment in America I think the point person for ASU that was in charge of managing that new polling facility definitely put her best effort forward, but I think they underestimated the needs of the student population.”
Reach the reporters at Garrison.Murphy@asu.edu and vkeys@asu.edu or follow @VKeys1231 and @Garrison_Murphy on Twitter.
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