| Rachel Parsons Staff Writer |
Volume 97 Number 41 Tuesday, October 12, 2004 |
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President George Bush won by almost 400 votes when University of Tennessee students took to the online polls Oct. 7 and 8 in the Student Government Association-sponsored mock elections.
The Bush/Cheney ticket received 1,015 votes to the Kerry/Edwards ticket receiving 643 votes. Students had the opportunity to vote for all candidates that will appear on the Tennessee ballot in the November elections.
A total of 1,721 students - 6.6 percent of the student body - voted in the election. SGA had hoped that 8,000 students would cast votes, Kristi Bogle, SGA government affairs assistant director, said last week.
But the voting turnout indicates student activism, SGA President Chaz Molder said.
"This mock election was done in the SGA pursuits to help create voter awareness and voter involvement," Molder said. "Students have been extremely active on campus this semester helping to advocate for the candidate that they believe in."
Twenty-eight percent of Tennesseans ages 18-24 voted in the 2000 presidential election, 14 percent less than the national average of 42 percent, according to U.S. Census data.
The election results have encouraged the UT chapter of the College Republicans, said Jerod Hollyfield, president of the group.
"The results of the election have really bolstered us," Hollyfield said. "Come November, this should be an accurate indication of how the campus will swing - professors excluded, of course."
But Maggie Valvo, UT College Democrats president, said the mock election is not an accurate reflection of the upcoming elections.
"I feel that not a lot of students were aware of the mock election and may not have gotten a chance to vote," Valvo said in an e-mail.
"I believe that with more publicity the election could have been more effective. The student body is deeply split in the upcoming election," Valvo said.
President Bush carried Tennessee's 11 electoral votes in the 2000 election, and leads the polls by 16 points in Tennessee, according to a Sept. 17 poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, Inc. of Washington, D. C. Major polls show Kerry and Bush in a dead heat across the country.
Calling the mock elections a "success," Molder thanked the student body for participating.
"I want to commend the student body for participating in the mock election and for standing up for the candidate they believe in," he said. "I encourage all students to vote in the November election so that students' voices will continue to be heard."
