Art by Gracen Dunn

Every four years, our nation’s leader is subject to change. This year, it is happening once again and some students finding themselves able to vote.

The top candidates for the election of 2012 are Republican candidate Governor Mitt Romney, Democratic candidate President Barack Obama and Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson. As the election date gets closer, people all across the country are picking sides and observing the race as it becomes close as well, along with some of PHS’s student body.

On October 17, a mock election was held by the senior class to see who would win of the class of 2013 decided.
“I’m excited because they’re excited,” said Economics and Government teacher Scott Gudorf.
The voting took place in Gudorf’s class. Several of this year’s seniors are eligible to vote, and a lot of them are taking advantage of the opportunity.

“I’m glad so many students are registered to vote,” said Gudorf.

Up until the deadline to register to vote, Gudorf had forms available for students to fill out and even turned them in. Gudorf has also been making his students aware of the politicians that are campaigning this year.

“We’ve been talking about the issues, watching the debates and looking at the facts,” said Gudorf.

Out of the mock election held in Gudorf’s classroom, of the three candidates, Barack Obama was the winner. The reasoning behind the choice varies by student.

“Obama’s helped save jobs of people I know,” said senior Allison Muth.

Muth said that jobs was one of her main concerns, and that Obama was the choice for her.

Jobs were the top issue among the voters, all with primarily the same reasoning: we need work.

“People need jobs, and it’s not benefiting our country to not have them,” said senior Josh Rice.

The outcome of the election was not as close as it’s been seen in other media among the country, and for the most part the senior class seemed to be on Obama’s side, but that was not the case for everyone.

“I couldn’t chose between Obama or Romney. They’re both so similar and different at the same time so Gary Johnson seemed like the person to vote for,” said senior Jessica Leland.

Although the mock election does not count for the big time vote, the students that get to help make the decision at least know enough about each candidate and are able to make the right choice for themselves.

The Results

And the next president  is…

Out of the 101 students who voted, here are the results.

Obama-49 votes.

Romney- 33 votes

Johnson- 19 votes

The top three issues are…

Students picked three issues that were most important to them.

Jobs-81 votes

Taxes-55 votes

Health care-55 votes

Story and Info by Samantha Patton