After months of campaign and debate, Election Day has arrived. The Miami Hurricane surveyed University of Miami students after they cast their votes this afternoon.
Freshman Danny Ivanov was at the polls Tuesday. He recently participated in a public political debate, representing the UM Young and College Democrats and debating on behalf of candidate Charlie Crist for Florida’s governor.
On Election Day, his first time voting in a midterm, he cast his vote for Crist.
“I don’t think Rick Scott has been doing a great job,” Ivanov said. “It’s time for a change.”
The issues most important to Ivanov are jobs and the economy. Should Crist win the election, he hopes to see Medicaid expansion and the restoration of education cuts.
For senior John Buonocore, a biomedical engineering major, this was one election of many. Since 18, Buonocore has made a point of embracing his civic responsibility.
“People have died for my right to vote,” Buonocore said. “So I voted today.”
The race for governor and the issue of medical marijuana were important in Buonocore’s vote, but he preferred not to go into specifics.
Alexandra Tabry, a senior majoring in elementary education and studio art, was also motivated to vote because of marijuana legalization – or as she called it, “Prop 2.” For governor, she voted for Crist because of her belief that “Rick Scott sucks.”
Though it’s too soon to predict the results, Associate Professor Joseph Uscinski, Ph.D. provided insight as an expert in political science. He pointed out the size of Miami-Dade county to suggest the influence of local residents on the overall election.
According to the Florida Division of Elections website, Miami-Dade has the most active registered voters of any county in Florida, accounting for 10.9 percent of the Florida vote. Broward county ranks second, representing 8.9 percent of Florida voters. Miami-Dade and Broward are the only two Florida counties with more than one million registered voters.
Voters in Miami-Dade breakdown into several political affiliations: republican, democrat, minor party and no affiliation.
Among all voter groups, Uscinski said that college-aged voters will have little impact on election results.
“They just don’t show up,” he said.
Regarding the overall outcome of the election, Uscinski declined to give a prediction. But for one party – which party, he declined to specify – he offered a cryptic warning.
“The hammer is about to fall,” he said.
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The Miami Hurricane is the student newspaper of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The newspaper is edited and produced by undergraduate students at UM and is published in print every Tuesday and online everyday during the academic year.