As votes continue to indicate President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election, Bluffton University students who were particularly engaged and attentive to the election process and its results reflect on the outcome of the election, the controversy over President Donald Trump’s claims of voter fraud and what the on-going pandemic means for the future of elections.
According to the Associated Press, young voter turnout was higher than in previous elections. This is believed to be a main reason Joe Biden was able to be so competitive in and win states that are typically red.
Sarah Woods, sophomore double major in business administration and sociology and President of the Bluffton University Young Democrats Club. Photo courtesy of Sarah Woods.
“This was a very crucial election,” said Sarah Woods, sophomore double major in business administration and sociology and president of the Young Democrats Club at Bluffton University. “A lot of people’s rights were on the line, so I think it’s very important for college-aged people to have voted this year.”
The polarized nature of this election is not something that escaped notice as Trump and Biden went head to head in an election that seemed to only leave voters with the option of voting red or blue. Isaac Paine, Bluffton University senior integrated social studies major and self-proclaimed Libertarian-leaning conservative, is a seemingly rare example of third-party engagement.
“This election was pretty divisive and binary in choice for a lot of people,” said Paine. “Not knowing that there are other options besides Democrat and Republican is in part the fault of the Libertarians for not doing a good job of broadcasting themselves, but it’s also the fault of the media for not covering third-party candidates.”
Despite votes indicating Biden as the winner, Trump has taken to Twitter to continue making unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in regards to mail-in ballots as he refuses to concede. There is no evidence of voter fraud occurring. Twitter has flagged Trump’s tweets about election fraud as disputed.
Isaac Paine, senior integrated social studies major. Photo courtesy of Isaac Paine.
“This biggest thing will be to rebuild the American people’s trust in the election process,” said Paine. “From everything that I’ve seen, there doesn’t seem to be evidence that one party has rigged the entire election. In my personal opinion, the systems seem to be working fine so far.
With the pandemic continuing for the foreseeable future, it seems likely that mail-in voting will continue to be a popular way of casting ballots in future elections.
With the president continuing to make unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud, Woods believes that it is important for students to stay accurately informed so they know what is actually happening in the election process and are able to develop informed opinions.
“I encourage students to do their best to find unbiased news sources and to do their own research on candidates and issues,” said Woods when asked what students can do to become more informed about politics.
