Students across campus gather together to watch the election results Tuesday night.
Senior Aparna Krishnaswamy had a long election day.
“I couldn’t sleep last night because I was so worried about this election,” she said.
The Kerry supporter spent the morning after her restless night volunteering at Durham County voting precincts, where she and other volunteers observed an unprecedented average of 70 percent voter turnout.
Krishnaswamy came to the Armadillo Grill to watch the results of those votes on the big screen along with a small group of Kerry supporters.
“I’m not a citizen, but I care a lot about this election,” she said. “It really bothers me when people who have the privilege to vote decide not to make use of it. It’s not hard—everyone has an opinion.”
Months of active campaigning shifted Duke’s traditional political apathy to awareness and engagement in Tuesday’s presidential election. Students across East, West, Central campuses and beyond centered their evening plans around the television as they awaited the state-by-state results.
And if West Campus was an electoral map, the McClendon Tower media room would most definitely have been red.
Members of Duke College Republicans gathered there to watch returns, eat pizza and play foosball as the votes rolled in. Everyone sent up cheers and applause as more states reported additional electoral wins for President George W. Bush.
Attendees attributed the festive atmosphere to high returns for Bush throughout the evening.
“I feel like the race will be a close race, but in the end Americans will use national security as the main priority for our country, and in doing so, President Bush will come ahead,” said junior Brandon Goodwin, an active member of Duke College Republicans.
Sophomore Claire Thompson said she never goes to Duke College Republicans meetings, but came to the group’s event to be with like-minded voters.
“All of my friends are Democrats,” she said. “It’s so fun when people get excited. If I was with my friends, everyone would be booing.”
Reactions were less cheery at the One Sweet Vote event in the Great Hall.
“I’m a little depressed and disheartened to see half the states come up red,” junior Emily Hsieh said, adding that she spent four hours in line Saturday in order to vote.
Although many students were unhappy with the information on the screen, sophomore Luke Stewart appreciated the event for its unifying character—and for the politically-themed cake.
“Everyone is watching it anyway, and there’s free food,” he said.
Most students chose to watch the results from the comfort of their own futons. Walking around West Campus, television commentaries could be overheard through dorm windows and doors from Craven to Wannamaker.
Sophomores Eli Wolfe and Chris Bassett looked to Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart for live election satire. Bassett, who intermittently changed over to CNN for more traditional coverage, said he appreciated The Daily Show’s irreverent approach to a very serious election.
Another room featured a hand-painted banner hung out the window that read, “We Support Kerry/Edwards.”
Inside, sophomore roommates Johannah McLean, Katie Zimmerman and Meredith Cantrell attentively watched returns.
Zimmerman, wearing a “Bush? Not fine by me” T-shirt, stood with her arms around boyfriend David Earley—and his “George W. Bush: Re-elect our Commander in Chief” shirt.
“We’re both fairly moderate,” Zimmerman said. “We can agree socially and disagree on economic and foreign policy issues.”
Zimmerman and Earley have withstood each other’s political differences for 11 months and said they agree more than people might think.
“Part of the reason we get along so well is that we can have differences and still respect each other,” Earley said.
Rebecca Friedman contributed to this story.
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