Faculty, Students, Nation Await Decision From Florida

"Can you believe this?"

The cry echoed throughout the Harvard campus as the first bells of the morning rang from atop Memorial Church.

Although most were exhausted after a night of waiting for excruciatingly slow returns from the polls, few were without an opinion.

"Deep down, I'm very afraid," said Lindsay S. Greene '03.

The sophomore said that although she is not a "Gore supporter," she voted for Vice President Al Gore '69 because she felt closer to his stance on most of the issues.

Gore supporters certainly have been on an emotional roller coaster for the past two days.

"We were gleeful when we thought we had Florida, depressed when that was taken away, and now, we've been left in a state of twilight and suspense," said Marc Stad '01, president of the Harvard College Democrats.

Supporters of Governor George W. Bush maintain that for them the swing was not as drastic. They are confident that their candidate will pull through after the mandatory recount in Florida.

In the wee hours yesterday morning, the victory cry could be heard all over campus, as mobs of Bush supporters took to the streets when the networks named Bush the winner.

Jason P. Brinton '00-'02, president of the Harvard Republican Club, explained that these students were merely exhilarated by the victory of their candidate.

"They've been waiting for this for eight years," he said.

"We definitely need to wait until all the votes are counted, but statistically speaking, [the election] should go to Bush," he said.

The Democrats, however, are not giving up yet.

There are so many scenarios," Stad said. "These absentee ballots may be coming from businessmen and members of the military, who tend to vote Republican, but they may also be coming from travelers, like Floridian Jews visiting Israel, and academics, who would also be more likely to vote for Gore."

But Mike A. Pineiro '02, a Bush supporter, said a large shift is unlikely.

"You look at the polls now and the differences are minimal, so I don't think a change is likely," he said. Pineiro brought up the fact that in 1996, former Senator Bob Dole did extremely well in the absentee ballots even though he wasn't carrying the whole state. Because Republicans often do well with these absentee ballots, he said, Bush should have no problem maintaining his lead.

Ann Y. Lee '03, who said she cast her vote for Bush but also had reservations about him, aptly pointed out that tensions are bound to be high in an election as hotly contested as this.

"No matter who wins, about half of the people will be unhappy," she said.

In fact, some Harvard students expressed a fear that if Gore wins the popular vote but fails to capture the presidency, voters will grow even more disillusioned with American democracy.

"People may come to feel that their vote is worthless," Stad said.

On the other hand, such a result might also provide the impetus that would lead to the abolition of the Electoral College.

Alex I. Caloza '04 suggested that a new system be implemented: an Electoral College whose votes would be partitioned to reflect the popular vote.

"For example, in a state with four electoral votes, if Gore won 75 percent of the popular vote and Bush 25 percent, then three electoral votes would go to Gore and one to Bush," Caloza said.

Despite the disappointment and nerves, many first-year voters said they were simply excited about the fact that their first election has turned out to be such an historic event.

Students mused that years into the future their grandchildren would turn to them and ask, "Where were you on the night that no one won the presidential election?"

A small handful of students will remember spending the evening in the Science Center computer lab, affectionately known as the "Nerd Cage," as they struggled to complete their computer science problem sets while simultaneously trying to keep tabs on the election.

"Everyone was working, but at the same time they had their little election screen up, and when big news was coming in, everyone would crowd around the screen," said Maryann Vellanikaran '04, who was there for the action.

Among the students who are most anxious at this hour are those whose home state has become the focus of the nation.

"I'm on pins and needles," Caloza said.

Natalie B. Bedoya '04, a resident of Palm Beach County, Florida, was frustrated by the fact that she was not able to cast her vote, one that would have fallen under the Gore column.

"I requested my absentee ballot on the day of registration, when the Institute of Politics (IOP) was signing up all those people to vote," she said. "Then the election board in my county sent me a notice reminding that I hadn't yet sent in my ballot. But by then it was only two days before the election, and it was too late."

"I'm disappointed in the IOP, especially now that I see how significant my vote would have been," Bedoya said.

In an election that will most likely be decided by a few thousand votes, situations like this could prove crucial. This explains why so great a focus is being placed on the possibility that some Floridians may have voted for Pat Buchanan instead of Gore because of ballots they called unclear.

Whatever the deciding factors and the differences between Republicans and Democrats, however, both Stad and Brinton acknowledge that everyone's hanging in the balance. But, they both acknowledge, Florida must take the time it needs to call the election fairly and accurately.

"This election needs to be decided correctly, and it needs to be decided quickly," Brinton said.

But until the final count is made official, the College Democrats aren't the only ones who have been left, as it were, "in a state of twilight and suspense."