Hillary Clinton wins Lehigh’s mock election

Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won the mock election held in Williams Hall on Nov. 8.

International and domestic students alike gathered in the Global Commons to cast their mock ballots for U.S. president as part of the Global Union’s International Week mock election.

“The election is for international students or students who are underage that can’t vote in the actual election,” said Laura Dean, the graduate assistant in the Office of International Students and Scholars who helped organize the event.

Students were given a ballot with four candidates’ names on it and proceeded to a voting booth decorated in red, white and blue streamers to vote. The results were collected and tallied at the end of the hour. At the end of the event Jen Topp, the manager of Global Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives, announced Hillary Clinton had won with 28 votes, while Donald Trump had received seven.

Clara Buie, the assistant director for the Global Union and Community Engagement, also helped organize the mock election. She said it was nice to give a chance for international students to vote because it’s something many people take for granted.

The event also included an election watch party to provide an opportunity for international and domestic students to come together and watch the results come in.

“We wanted to have an event for International Week that didn’t take away the focus from the election,” Buie said. “Plus, we’ll get to see what the results are.”

Nienke Suelmann, a Dutch Lehigh student from Germany, explained why she voted for Clinton.

“I mean, (Trump) doesn’t even believe in climate change,” Suelmann said. “I can’t really take him seriously.”

She also expressed concern because Trump was doing better than Clinton in the polls right before the election.

Anas Noorwali, a student from Saudi Arabia, commented on the opinion of people in his home country on the U.S. presidential election.

“It is difficult to tell because I am not in Saudi Arabia, so I can’t see what people are saying, but I think the general Saudi preference would be for (Clinton),” he said. He also cast his vote for Clinton.

During the watch party, the Global Commons was crowded with people. Students were able to watch CNN coverage of the presidential election results on the television in Global Commons as they waited for their votes to be tallied.

International students learned about the U.S. presidential election process while watching results come in and listening to the newscasters explain why they were focusing on certain states.

“I like international things, and I came to watch the action,” Suelmann said.

Noorwali said his friends encouraged him to attend.

One of the states that received the most attention was Florida. Students watched the counties on the state map turn blue or red while newscasters explained the importance of Florida as a swing state.

Many students and faculty appeared excited as the results came in during the event and discussed their concerns about and interpretations of the incoming results.