While Election Day 2020 turned into election week, the Belmont Hill mock election count was completed only hours after virtual polls closed. After nearly five days of further tabulation, the official certified results were released via email from School President Timmy McCormack ’21 to the entire community. Of the 473 responses to the online election poll, 84 were faculty and staff, 58 were in Form I, 60 in Form II, 75 in Form III, 76 in Form IV, 67 were in Form V, and 53 in Form VI. The poll began with questions about the respondent’s identity. In terms of race or ethnicity, 80.1% of the community identified as white, 7.2% as Asian, 6.3% as Black or African American, 2.7% as Hispanic or Latino, and 3.7% as another identity. In terms of gender, 92.4% of the respondents identified as Male and 7% as Female. Finally, in terms of sexual orientation, 96.2% identified as Straight/Heterosexual, 0.4% as Gay or Lesbian, 1.7% as Bisexual, and 1.7% as Queer, Questioning, or prefering not to respond.
Within our community, 36.2% identified as Democrats, 23.5% as Republicans, 29.3% as Independents or Other, and 11% Undecided. This breakdown is slightly different from the Mock Election results in 2016 when 33.4% identified as Independent, 28.8% as Democrat, 28.3% as Republican, and 9.5% as Unsure. While the percentage of Independents decreased slightly, the percentage of Democrats increased significantly and the percentage of Republicans decreased. In terms of support for the Presidential candidates, Belmont Hill voted convincingly for Former Vice President Joe Biden (63.6%), followed by President Donald Trump (29.4%), then Kanye West (1.7%), and Jo Jorgensen (1.3%). Back in 2016, the school voted for then-Democratic candidate Sec. Hilary Clinton by a margin of 53% to 30% with a combined 17% voting for Libertarian Gary Johnson (14%) and Green Party candidate Jill Stein (3%).
In terms of Ballot Questions in Massachusetts, the school was split on Question 2, Ranked Choice Voting with 34.5% supporting the policy change, 34.5% opposing it, and 31.1% saying they were unsure. Click here for more information about ranked choice voting. Finally, Belmont Hill voted overwhelmingly to re-elect Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey (65.3%) over his Republican opponent Kevin O’Connor (29.8%). Interestingly, there were a significant number of split ballots, or voters choosing candidates from multiple parties. Nearly 18% of Trump voters at Belmont Hill chose Senator Ed Markey, and 5.6% of Biden supporters voted for Republican Kevin O’Connor. In terms of party breakdown for each candidate, almost 3% of Trump voters (or 4 people total) identified as Democrats and 6.3% of Biden voters (or 19 people total) identified as Republicans. Finally, 63% of Independent voters selected Biden and 26% Trump.
As the nation looks ahead to the coming Presidential transition and final Senatorial elections, The Panel encourages everyone in our community to begin dialogue with your peers, family, and friends about how to build bridges across political divisions and work together to solve problems.
