The Stony Brook College Democrats, College Republicans, Center for Civic Justice, Bridge Stony Brook and the Political Science Society hosted an Election Watch Party at the Stony Brook Union on Tuesday, Nov. 5 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. as students watched president-elect Donald Trump’s slow but triumphant win against Vice President Kamala Harris.
Each table was given paper maps of the United States Electoral College with blue and red colored pencils to either make predictions or follow along as each state’s electoral votes went toward a candidate.
Attendees were updated by the constant live stream of ABC News. The earliest voting locations closed at 7 p.m., which led to the earlier poll counts from states such as Georgia, Vermont and South Carolina.
Daniel Gomez, a freshman majoring in political science, said he’s still in the process of deciding which political party to identify with. He shared that he mainly comes from a Democratic family but felt if he identified with one, he’d feel judged. Gomez said that even students who don’t study political science can still learn and be engaged in politics by attending events similar to the watch party.
Emma Ehrhard, a senior majoring in mass communication, also attended the event. Ehrhard identifies as Independent and voted for Harris.
She explained the importance of hosting events such as the watch party as a way to give students resources to be somewhat politically involved.
“I feel like a lot of students, whether it’s just watching an election or having politically related activities on campus, give them the resources to take it upon themselves to learn more, or give them a space to ask questions,” Ehrhard said.
Ehrhard also discussed how social media influences people’s levels of political involvement.
“I think that voting and political involvement is not as easy as people make it seem, especially with social media,” Ehrhard said. “People think if you repost a graphic then you’re politically involved, which is not true at all.”
Richard Vatawat, the president of the College Democrats and a senior majoring in political science, predicted the election would be close and acknowledged the value of understanding each candidate and people of different political affiliations.
“It’s important to know who you’re voting [for] and it’s important once you vote to talk to people [on] the other side of the aisle and realize that everyone’s their own person and you’re [going to] have common ground,” Vatawat said.
Attendee Claire Guy, a freshman majoring in philosophy and identifies as Republican, said Congress matters more than who is elected as president. Guy further discussed how people can make a difference by focusing on state-level elections, rather than the “sensationalized” presidential election.
“I think being educated about the people making policies that affect your state will affect you more than the federal level … If you actually want to make a difference, knowing who’s in … Congress and who’s actually letting these things pass makes more of a difference,” Guy said.
Another attendee, Josephine Wozniak-Veisseyre, is an international student from France and a junior majoring in political science, who said this event brought students together. She also expressed her worries over Trump’s foreign policy plans.
“I’m really scared that Trump [won], especially because I am an international student. That would have an impact on foreign policy and things like [the North Atlantic Treaty Organization],” Wozniak-Veisseyre said.
Nicholas Gitman, a junior majoring in computer science, voted for Trump and identifies as a Republican. During the watch party, he had a map of the state of Georgia on his laptop screen, updating each town’s color as the polls closed.
Gitman said that he is very invested in the presidential election, especially as he betted on which candidate would win.
“I feel we’re gonna be the same as we were yesterday [despite Trump winning],” Gitman said. ”Hopefully, moving forward, we have more unity in this country despite the [results of the] election.”
