Campus supports vice president

By Yael Kohen

Daily Staff Reporter

A majority of voters in Ann Arbor supported Gore and helped the vice president win Michigan's 18 electoral votes.

Early returns indicated 34 percent of Washtenaw County voters headed to the polls yesterday, with many students on campus standing in long lines for the chance to cast their ballot.

Sixty percent of those votes went to the Democratic presidential candidate.

First-year Law student Shauna Fulbright said she voted a straight Democratic ticket.

"The party seems to do more for me and deals with more of the issues I believe in," she said, adding that her political views have been shaped by her parents. "My parents are strong in their political views."

A native of Illinois, Fulbright didn't vote in all the races. "I don't want to affect people's lives too much but I have been going to school here for five years. ... I don't want to increase people's taxes."

First-year Law student Roxanne Wilson was excited to vote for the first time - she even took pictures of the whole process as she voted at the Michigan Union. Wilson, who did not disclose who she voted for, said making her decision was difficult. In fact, she settled on a presidential decision 10 minutes before she went into the voting booth. "It was kind of hard to make a decision when you know you're deciding the fate of the country for four years," she said.

The candidates' policies on the economy, Wilson said, was one issue that was key in making her decision. But she said on other issues, Bush and Gore were "regurgitating" the same messages.

Engineering senior Muhamed Halilovic, a native of Bosnia-Herzegovina, just received his citizenship and voted for Bush and Sen. Spence Abraham.

"Coming from Bosnia I didn't have as much freedom for voting," Halilovic said, adding that he believes "everybody has a duty to vote if you want to participate in a society."

Halilovic said he considered voting for Gore but the vice president didn't seem so "appealing."

Engineering freshman Michelle Farrell said voting is very important to her. "I wouldn't have not voted," said Farrell, who cast a Democratic ballot.

"I just think a lot of of their issues are what I agree with and what I stand for," she said, adding that the presidential debates helped her make her decision, though she admits she leans Democratic anyway.

LSA sophomore Amit Dharmani waited 20 minutes in line to vote. Dharmani, who voted Democratic, said he didn't vote in 1999, but "wanted to vote this time."

Although Dharmani said he left many parts of the ballot blank because he didn't know about many of the candidates, he said he did like the vice president.

"I like (Gore's) ideas I feel like he is more of a normal person," Dharmani said. Dharmani said he views himself as an independent voter. "I'm whatever I like better. I'm not a Democrat or Republican," he said.

"Everybody has time. It took me 20 minutes here, 10 minutes to do research."

NORMAN NG/ Daily

Election Inspector Rachel Smart (left) prepares LSA senior Kate Sablosky to vote in the Michigan Union yesterday.