By snoadmin
Cal State Long Beach students gathered in the University Student Union to cast their votes during the election on Tuesday.
Volunteer poll worker Chelsea Rosenthal said by 12:40 p.m., 111 students had voted. Volunteers at the polls said they were surprised that more students had turned out to vote and said that they were not expecting such a turnout, since it seemed that only nine to 10 students voted in the last election.
Student Robin Hoffman said that voting is important.
“It gives you no reason to complain when things don’t go your way,” she said.
Some students said they were unsure of their decision of the next governor. But those students who were sure said they were leaning towards Republican and current Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger or Green Party candidate Peter Camejo.
“He’s doing a great job in getting the state out of debt,” said student Breanna Underwood.
But student Zoya Kogay said she was against Schwarzenegger and criticized him for “not understanding the budget or how the public sector works, after being in office three years.”
Other students like freshman Manuel Robles said he voted for Schwarzenegger, “because he is Arnold.”
Hoffman, who voted for Camejo, said she based her decision on environmental issues.
Many of the students also voted on Propositions 85, 86 and 87. The controversial Proposition 85, if passed, would require parental consent for a minor to have an abortion. Students who voted against the proposition said they were worried for minors who lived in violent homes, and the possible danger they would face if they were forced to tell their parents.
Student Cody Kennedy, who said he voted against he proposition, said “it is the personal business of the person” to have an abortion.
Students supporting Proposition 85, like Joe Lee, said that if it passed, it might “lower pregnancies, stop the killing of babies and teach minors to be more responsible with contraception use.”
Some of the students who are against another controversial issue, Proposition 86, which will increase the price of cigarettes, were smokers, whereas non-smokers were in favor of it.
Lee said now that he is a non-smoker, he voted for it and would have probably voted differently if he was still an active smoker.
But those students who voted for Proposition 86 said that raising the tax on tobacco products might help people stop smoking.
If Proposition 87 passed, it might stop the dependency on foreign energy. However, those opposed, like student Cody Kennedy, said “it will increase gas prices.” Much opposition for Proposition 87 came from criticisms of how the proposition is written, since it was ambiguous and broad.
Other students mentioned that they voted for Proposition 87, since Bill Clinton supported it, and that they trust him.
View the election results online at www.daily49er.csulb.edu.
