The Presidential Election

On November 3rd, Election Night officially began with the two candidates, Joe Biden and Donald Trump, competing for the 270 electoral votes needed to win. However, Election Night turned into Election Week, with the counting of votes stretching across the days and claims of fraud surfacing. However, the results were clear; Joe Biden led with 306 electoral votes, compared to Donald Trump’s 232 electoral votes. Joe Biden has also crossed 81 million votes; 10 million more than any other president in history. Donald Trump trailed behind at 74 million votes; the second most amount of votes a president has received in history. Yet with the apparent success for Joe Biden, claims of fraud and cheating are still arising from people such as the president. 

So what does the school think about the candidates and the election?

Well, thanks to a school-wide mock election, the results were clear: 55.4% of the students who participated in the election stated that they would have voted for Joe Biden; 40.5% of students stated that they would vote for Donald Trump, and the remaining 4.1% choosing other candidates. 

The School Mock-Election

On top of the presidential election, students were polled on issues such as the legal possession of Marijuana, the constitutional amendment to make veterans eligible for a property tax deduction, and the constitutional amendment to postpone the state legislative redistricting process until after the election. 

Marijuana Legalization Amendment

The first question offered to the students of Morris Knolls was relatively simple: Do you support the legalization of Cannabis? 

The amendment would legalize a controlled form of Marijuana known as “Cannabis,” and would be offered to adults of ages 21 and older. The State commission who oversees the medical cannabis program would also oversee the personal use of cannabis and the cannabis market. Cannabis would also be subject to State sales tax. 

From the results, 72.3% (≈334 students) of students selected that yes, they would support the amendment. 27.7% (≈127 students) of students selected no. 

Peacetime Veterans Eligible for Property Tax Deduction Amendment

The second question asked if students would support a constitutional amendment to make peacetime veterans eligible for a $250 property tax deduction.

The Amendment would allow veterans who did not serve time in the war to be eligible for a $250 property tax deduction. The amendment would also allow a 100% property tax exemption to veterans who are totally disabled. On top of that, the amendment would allow the widow or widower of those veterans to also receive the $250 deduction, or a full 100% exemption after the veteran’s death. 

Based on the results, 82% (≈378 students) of students responded that yes, they would support the amendment. 18% (≈83 students) responded with no.

Delayed State Legislative Redistricting Amendment

The final question asked if students would support a constitutional amendment to postpone the state legislative redistricting process until after the November 2nd Presidential Election. 

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the state of New Jersey delayed census data collection. As a result, the state may not be ready to prepare for State legislative elections. This bill would allow legislators who were elected to represent their current district for their two years in office; the new districts would be used starting with the next general election for State legislature. 

Based on the results, 62.6% (≈289 students) of students responded that yes, they would support the amendment. 37.4% (≈172 students) responded with no.

All‌ ‌in‌ ‌all,‌ ‌the‌ ‌school‌ ‌mock‌ ‌election‌ ‌has‌ ‌enabled‌ ‌students‌ ‌to‌ ‌see‌ ‌that‌ ‌there‌ ‌is‌ ‌more‌ ‌to‌ ‌voting‌ ‌than‌ ‌just‌ ‌choosing‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌candidate,‌ ‌and‌ ‌allowed‌ ‌students‌ ‌to‌ ‌‌see‌ ‌‌the‌ ‌type‌ ‌of‌ ‌questions‌ ‌that‌ ‌they‌ ‌may‌ ‌‌see‌ ‌‌when‌ ‌they‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌vote.‌ ‌Election‌ ‌polls‌ ‌and‌ ‌voting‌ ‌doesn’t‌ ‌ just‌ ‌ask‌ ‌students‌ ‌to‌ ‌pick‌ ‌their‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌person,‌ ‌but‌ ‌asks‌ ‌them‌ ‌about‌ ‌their‌ ‌ideals‌ ‌and‌ ‌whether‌ ‌ or‌ ‌not‌ ‌they‌ ‌agree‌ ‌with‌ ‌something‌ ‌that‌ ‌may‌ ‌have‌ ‌a‌ ‌major‌ ‌impact‌ ‌on‌ ‌their‌ ‌lives,‌ ‌making‌ ‌it‌ ‌ imperative‌ ‌for‌ ‌students‌ ‌to‌ ‌research‌ ‌and‌ ‌understand‌ ‌such‌ ‌topics.‌ ‌