Photos by Jerry Reed Students pack the polling booths in Alamosa High School’s mock presidential election. Jerry Reed’s AP Government class collected over 550 votes from students, faculty, and staff.

Government students watch the polls



STAFF REPORT

ALAMOSA — The results are in. In a landslide vote, Barack Obama is the next President of the United States of America.

At least he would be if the students, faculty, and staff of Alamosa High School had their way.

Alamosa High School held a school-wide mock election, receiving over 550 ballots from the people who frequent their halls. Put together by Jerry Reed’s AP Government class, the elaborate election had polling booths provide by County Clerk Melanie Woodward and Linda Wright, voting officials, and an enormous stack of ballots folded up to be counted by the students.

Each ballot contained 5 of the presidential nominees: Barack Obama, Democrat; John McCain, Republican; Ralph Nader, Independent; Cynthia McKinney, Green Party; and Bob Barr, Libertarian. For the U.S. Senate, Mark Udall and Bob Schaffer were on the ballot. John Salazar and Wayne Wolf for U.S. House District 3 were on the chopping block, as was Edward Vigil and Randy Jackson for House District 62.

Results from Alamosa High School’s election:

President

Barack Obama - 369*

John McCain - 133

Ralph Nader - 6

Cynthia McKinney - 4

Bob Barr - 5

Senate

Mark Udall - 261*

Bob Schaffer - 218

U.S. House District 3

John Salazar - 415*

Wayne Wolf - 140

House District 62

Edward Vigil - 263*

Randy Jackson - 227

Reed’s class has been focusing on the election process and tracking the election. From parties, biases, factions and stats to the candidates themselves, Reed’s class has received a full spectrum of information surrounding elections. Every Friday, his class has been watching the campaign trail and trends as they emerge. One student even had the duty to check facts from campaign ads and accusations thrown by nominees.

The polls opened at 8:30 a.m., and by 9:30 a majority of the school’s occupants had voted. Ballots were even delivered to off-campus classes.

Candace Hsu, Michael Wright, and Kendra Marquez were the Mock Vote Committee, orchestrating the event. “The hardest part was not procrastinating,” Hsu said. “But it went smoothly and we were ahead of schedule.”

According to Reed’s students, the younger students had a hard time with the voting process. “They were unfamiliar with the logistics of voting,” one student said. “This was something that even if they made mistakes today, they’ll understand it better in the real world,” said Sophia Guerrero-Murphy, an outspoken liberal student of Reed’s. Reed said there was a lot of internal turmoil for students who did not share their parent’s political views. “A lot of them said ‘don’t tell my parents’,” Reed said.

Reed has taught his students that democracy doesn’t happen on the sidelines, it’s an active sport. Since preliminaries, AHS has helped register over 80 students to become voters. “It’s not just a right, it’s a civic duty,” Reed said.

Hsu predicts the presidential election will reflect the choices made by AHS, but the gap will be closer. Hsu refrained from predicting Obama as the next president, but hinted towards the idea. “Obama mutilated McCain. It will be a lot closer in the national election.”