Students' voices heard through mock election

On Monday, November 7, John I. Burton's government students held a mock election. Government students went class to class across the school having the student body vote for the President of the United States, the Ninth Congressional District Representative for the U. S. House of Representatives, and a Norton City School Board member. With the 2016 Presidential Election being held on Tuesday, November 8, this was a well-timed activity which engaged students in the voting process.  

When the students voted for President of the United States, they had five options: Donald Trump as the Republican nominee, Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee, Gary Johnson as the Libertarian nominee, Jill Stein as the Green Party nominee, and Evan McMullin as an Independent politician.  Out of those candidates, Trump took the lead with 71% of the student body's votes.  Following Trump, Clinton came in second place with 20% of the votes.  Behind the two most popular candidates, Johnson received 3%, Stein 2%, and McMullin 1% .  The remaining percentages were write-in votes.

The Ninth Congressional District Representative nominees were as follows: Morgan Griffith, Derek Kitts, and Rick Allen.  62% of Burton's students voted for Morgan Griffith to hold this position.  Kitts acquired the second most votes at 24%, and Allen fell behind with 11% of the votes.

Three local candidates ran against each other for the Norton City School Board's open position.  Those three people were Sherry Adams; Mark Leonard; and write-in candidate, Arthur Jenkins.  Adams preceded the other candidates with 68% of the votes, Leonard came in a close second with 58% of the students votes, and Jenkins followed with 22%.

Written by: Tiffany A. Megan D