For much of Tuesday night, the Memorial Union Horizon Room was quiet. Few people were present to watch the election coverage on the big screen.
Everett Goldfarb, a first-year computer science major, was in attendance. This was his first presidential election. Goldfarb started tracking the results before any of the ballots started to get counted.
“I am very nervous. I’m really hoping that the candidate I picked comes through and wins,” said Goldfarb.
Another first-year student, Cadin Beach, studying mechanical engineering, said he was stressed as well, but he was trying to put a positive spin on the tense election.
This presidential election was Beach’s first as well. He said that some of his concerns in this election were related to the economy and immigration. “The inflation rates seem really high, everything is really expensive,” said Beach.
Even with his concerns about the election, he showed a positive attitude. “Personally, I like to look at things in a positive light. If something can be entertaining, should be entertaining,” said Beach.
Others in attendance on Tuesday night were three international students. Paul Morançais, a first-year business administration student, Emile Pollemondon, a first-year political science student and Jeanne Babiam, a first-year Apparel Design student. All three of them are from France.
Morançais said that he went to the MU with curiosity about how the election would go for the United States. He said that it’s unusual for him to see an election take so many hours rather than getting the results immediately like it is in France.
Pollemondon and Babiam agreed that they felt people in the United States are more open-minded and value freedom of speech more than in France.
They all agreed that the election is really special in the U.S. “The problem for me, with the electoral college, is that for people, let’s say, from California, people who vote Republican in California can feel like their vote is not important. Or Democrats who vote in Texas, they can feel like their vote is not important … In France, every vote counts,” Pollemondon said.
While watching the election, Morançais said that another Trump presidency would affect the world. “America is the most influential country in the world,” Morançais said.
