Voters Weigh How the 2016 Election has Transformed America

David Rosenberger: “I’m registered as a Republican, but haven’t voted Republican in years. I just never bothered changing my- I got tired of the do-nothing Congress and I never bothered changing parties.” Photo by Jackson Shrout
Amy Donnelly: “There was a line for the first time in my memory, but I think that’s because it was the first time in my memory when it made a difference in New York State. Usually the candidate is decided before New York gets around to it. If the party in which you are enrolled has already picked its candidate, they’ve got the right number of delegates before New York comes up, then your vote does not count, so there was no reason to go to the polls.” Photo by Jackson Shrout
Emily Chason: “I’d like to see the end of corporate funding when it comes to certain candidates. I don’t think that that should be a legal thing. I’m kind of shocked that it is [legal]. I keep waiting for someone to pass some sort of law saying it’s not, and it’s just not happening and it’s blowing my mind.” Photo by Sarah Gemmell
Brandon Chacon: “This campaign has transformed America in the way we see our two-party system. I feel as though it exposed a lot of evil going on in the shadows in both the Democratic and the Republican Party. A lot of Democrats like to make it out as though the Republicans are very evil, but this election we’ve seen that with Bernie Sanders they can be evil towards other Democratic candidates as well.” Photo by Isabelle Hayes
Roger Spool: “I think this [election] has shown a side of America that has shocked the rest of the world. I know people from other countries and they’re just beyond words in trying to understand what is happening here and how someone like Donald Trump can ever, ever get to the level of politics that he has. Having someone like him even get to this level of politics makes me ashamed to be an American.” Photo by Isabelle Hayes
Rachel Lagodka: “I was very very disappointed that there wasn’t more support for Bernie among more of the academic community and among the environmental individuals locally. There was some, but I feel like there could have been more, and I feel like the dialogue was shut down.” Photo by Dynahlee S. Padilla
Lee Bell: “I don’t feel like [my First Amendment right to freedom of speech] has been threatened. I think it’s been hyped up in a way at least for me. I do think it’s an issue for minority voters in districts in the south that are no longer under scrutiny. And not just the south. So in that sense yes, but as a white woman I don’t think my voice has been silenced. I think it’s more the quality, the character of the people, the person” [that influenced my decision to vote today].” Photo by Dynahlee S. Padilla
Gerald Sorin: “I don’t think we should have an electoral college, however I am happy we have it this time, because it gives the Democrats an advantage. I know that’s a little strange to say–I don’t like the institution, but I want it until at least this election.” Photo by Sarah Gemmell
Kristen Trenary: “Down ticket people are more important to vote for because it’s where we end up seeing major change. We have to work from the ground up. I pretty much voted blue across the board. This is a very exciting election year, that I was sure to talk about and bring my kids along with me for. My grandmother was a suffragette, and I have a feeling her parents probably weren’t the most thrilled about her being an activist. She’d be excited about today.” Photo By Katie Clayton

Students from Prof. Lisa Phillips’ Feature Writing class and Prof. Rachel Somerstein’s Journalism 1 class went to the polls to interview voters in the 2016 election. Here’s what voters had to say.