HKIS hosts mock election
Tension from upcoming US presidency is being felt overseas
The year was 1829. Muddied boots danced on the pristine tables of the White House. Joyous cacophony from the crowd as Andrew Jackson accepted the presidency. A presidency whose power was derived from the people. The first populist president had been elected.
After a tense election season through 2016, another populist was elected: Donald Trump. The division this closely-followed election caused was felt not only throughout the United States, but also internationally.
On November 9, the American Chamber of Commerce hosted Election Central 2016, an event where interested individuals in Hong Kong could follow the election. Excited conversation flowed throughout the room, with many trying to predict which candidate would be elected: Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.
High School students from Hong Kong International School wandered about, handing out ballots for a mock vote. Television screens on all sides of the room played live CNN election coverage, and reporters with television cameras patrolled, hunting for their next interview.
In a side room, HKIS students counted the first of the mock ballots, and already there was a clear leaning towards Clinton. Ali Tahabrown (11) an HKIS student who helped run the mock election remarked, “I was quite surprised to see the huge lead that Clinton had over Trump in the mock election.”
As the Clinton tally rose in Hong Kong, CNN predicted a clear Trump victory in some early states: Kentucky and Indiana. While these states had long been predicted to vote Trump, tension filled the room nonetheless. The murmured justifications for Trump’s victories and the optimistic theorizing of Clinton’s future victories all hushed as the last votes for the battleground state of Virginia were counted.
A cheer ran through the room as John King colored the state of Virginia blue. This cheer was somewhat tempered by the count of Florida coming painfully slowly to an end, with Trump in the lead.