Super Tuesday Results and the Importance of Millennial Participation
Super Tuesday results came flooding in late last night. Super Tuesday is always an exciting and momentous time for our country and for the Follow My Vote team. 12 states voted yesterday, in both primaries and caucuses, to decide who their Republican and Democratic candidates will be in 2016. Clinton and Trump were heavily favored going into Tuesday, and both came out as the clear leaders of their respective parties. While neither candidate did well enough to seal their parties nomination, both will only have to cruise from here on out.
“Trump swamped his rivals by piling up seven wins across the nation, demonstrating broad appeal for his anti-establishment movement. Clinton also had a strong night, winning seven states and showing her strength with minorities in the South.”
– Stephen Collinson, CNN Politics
Democratic Party
It was Clinton who dominated southern states yesterday, collecting Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas. Clinton also won Massachusetts. All in all, Clinton walked away with 486 new delegates, which bumps her overall total to 1,034. However, Sanders did not go quietly into the night. The Senator collected a handful of states, including Oklahoma, Colorado, Minnesota, and his home state of Vermont. Sanders gained 321 new delegates, bumping his total to 408. Again, Clinton is not mathematically a lock as of yet, but the math is stacked against Sanders at this point. Up next, the Democratic candidates head to Kansas, Louisiana and Nebraska on March 5.
Republican Party
Trump continued his dominance among the field on Super Tuesday, collecting 7 of the 11 total states in play. His virtual sweep of southern states, mixed in with Vermont and Massachusetts, gave Trump a mixture of states that no other candidate has ever collected before. Trump collected 234 new delegates, pushing his overall total to 316. At this point, the race is Trump’s to lose.
Cruz did not have a bad day, all things considered. The Senator collected wins in 3 states, including his homes state of Texas. Cruz’s delegate total increased by 209, putting his total at 226. However, one of the biggest surprises of the night was Rubio’s poor showing. Rubio only won Minnesota last night, after campaigning hard against Trump in the week leading up to Super Tuesday. He gained 90 new delegates, with his total reaching 106. The race for the nomination picks up again on March 5, with Kansas, Louisiana, Kentucky and Maine in play.
What We Learned
The Follow My Vote team participated in Super Tuesday festivities, in our home state of Virginia. We had a great time interacting with Virginia Tech students and members of the Blacksburg community as they went out to cast their votes.
The FMV team was extremely encouraged to see the numbers and enthusiasm that millennials showed when discussing the importance of voting. This block of voters was easily the most willing to discuss their experience with us. We made sure to ask some of those we interviewed if they were aware of alternate voting methods, such as Ranked Choice and Instant-Runoff voting. Many of those we spoke to remain unaware of these alternate voting methods which we would like to see increase in the future.
Unsurprisingly, there have been multiple reports throughout the country about irregularities at polling locations. For example, a radio station in Austin, TX received multiple calls about their votes being cast incorrectly for Rubio instead of Trump. This reaffirms FMV’s mission to move to a transparent, end-to-end verifiable voting system. Even if the problem were to be statistically insignificant, each voter should have their true voice heard.
At Follow My Vote, we envision an open source, end-to-end verifiable voting system. Vote where you count, and sign up below for the 2016 Parallel Presidential Election. Help us make history in 2016.
About the author: Tyler Molihan is a Marketing Intern at Follow My Vote. He hopes to increase awareness about the benefits of online voting systems.
