Campus awaits results of election

Seniors Scott Rogers and Alex Brown sat glued to the television at the Indiana Memorial Union Thursday evening. In the 45 minutes they watched the broadcast from Florida, they came away with little information as to who would be the next president-elect. People passing by could not help but stop to listen for insight from CNN commentators before heading out into the rain.\nStudents and staff alike are puzzled by the recount in Florida, and are unsure if the end of the count will bring an end to the battle for the 25 deciding electoral votes.\n"They want to go over the will of the people," Rogers said, "If they (recount) and the people then choose Bush, we can live with that and then get on with our lives."\nYesterday, election officials threw out 19,000 votes from the Palm Springs community because of reports of faulty voting. Citizens in Palm Springs told CNN the ballot was confusing and made them cast their vote for Buchanan rather than Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Al Gore.\nThis ballot listed Gore and Buchanan across from one another instead of the standard list. \nBrown said he thinks the re-evaluation of the ballot format is "reasonable."\n "In Indiana, you just have buttons to push," he said.\nPolitical analysts across the country have been using this mistake as a solid reason for the standardization of ballots.\n"This shows why there should be a standard ballot," said Tracy Osborn, an associate instructor for the 'Election 2000' class. "There is definitely something fishy going on."\nProfessor Emeritus of History George Juergens said yesterday's recount will not be enough to put either candidate in the clear.\n"My assumption is that after the recount it is going to be close," he said. "But then there are going to be absentee ballots."\nMost of these ballots will arrive from overseas military personnel. But if the ballots are postmarked by Nov. 7, they have a seven day grace period afterwards to actually get to the elections offices.\n"The military votes are overwhelmingly Republican," Juergens said.\nBut the absentee ballots are not only coming in from military overseas. Votes from Americans studying or working in foreign countries who sent in their ballots are also getting attention.\nBrown said he thinks this conflict might carry on for up to two months, maybe even up until the Jan. 25 presidential inauguration.\nBut Juergens said he foresees a speedier resolution. "My guess is that Bush is going to get the state, and Vice President Gore will be conceding in a day or two," he said.\nThe issue of Electoral College reform is on the minds of students and professors alike.\n"I have a hunch that you're not going to see a change," Juergens said. "But there is going to be a lot of discussion."\nDespite it's apparent shortcomings in this election, Brown said he thinks the electoral system is necessary in order to keep candidates campaigning throughout the country.\n"If there was no electoral college, no one will go to North Dakota," he said.\nAs of press time, Bush was ahead by a small margin in the recount, with legal challenges on the horizon.\nBut whomever is elected will have a lot of big issues to deal with, Juergens said.\n"The real issue is what kind of mandate this is going to give to (the next president)," he said.