On November 8, 2016, the country took part in our 2016 presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Election Day this year was a highly anticipated and long-awaited day.

For Mr. Touart’s AP Government students, it was a day to experience first hand how the voting process works. Many students volunteered at local precincts from 6:00AM- 7:00PM. Their long shift consisted of passing out “I voted” stickers, handing out ballots, and helping voters with whatever they needed.

Mr. Touart requires a minimum of five hours of political participation each six weeks. Many students have so far spent their time at city council meetings or volunteering at the offices of Democratic and Republican Congressional candidates, Jane Dittmar and Tom Garrett, who were both on the ballot yesterday. Students took the opportunity to gain 13 hours by volunteering their time to assist at voting polls for their last required political participation.

Senior Dylan Haley said that he wanted to volunteer at the voting polls to fulfill his civic duty and to see how the voting process works. Haley said, “I’ve learned that many voters expect the polls to be open by 6:00, or else they get agitated. I also learned that the voting process is surprisingly low tech, but all the other volunteers are extremely nice.”

Victoria Shirey said that she has learned a lot more about the voting process and that your voter registration is not required, just a photo I.D.

“I learned a lot more goes into the process of casting votes than just filling in the bubbles and I have a much clearer view of how it works,” said Maggie Wells.

Cheyenne Hurd said, “I learned more about the voting process and how it’s done. My precinct ran smoothly and efficiently.”

Shirey said in the time she spent interviewing Congressman Robert Hurt, he taught her more about the topic and explained it to her from a first hand experience. Wells said that she has learned that partisanship is very divisive.

“After making calls while phone banking at Mrs. Dittmar’s office, it’s clear that many people do not want to look past party lines when it comes to decisions about government. Partisanship causes people to have a myopic view rather than a view of what’s best for America as a whole. I’ve learned to look at both sides of the political spectrum to make my decisions instead of blindly following whichever party I tend to lean toward,” said Wells.

The time seniors have spent volunteering this semester has taught many of them a great deal about government and broadened their political knowledge.