The political straw poll held every year on the campus of the University of South Florida in Tampa doesn't pretend to be scientific or all that predictive, but it has become a tradition.
The polling has been going on for at least the past five Presidential elections, and possibly over 20 years, according to USF political science professor Susan MacManus, who is also an ABC Action News contributor.
The polling aims to get over 1,000 participants to get a good sample-size from which to estimate how the campus will vote. Since the demographics of a college campus differs from the general population, especially in age category, the poll is not a good way to predict how the rest of the state will vote.
"It's mostly educational," says Georgia Pevy, a student-member of the Pi Sigma Alpha political science honor society, which is running the polling. "It's the first time many students will read the Amendment proposals," Pevy points out.
For the first time, Pi Sigma Alpha, along with USF's Student Government, is also taking votes online through Bullsync, USF's student organization website. Most of the polling is expected to take place in person outside of major campus landmarks, like the Marshall Student Center, and the campus library.
The poll asks students who they want to win the Presidential election, Florida's Senate election, and how they want the Amendment proposals to go.
USF Presidential Election Straw Poll Results below:
PRESIDENTIAL:
Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine (DEM): 53%
Donald Trump/Mike Pence (REP): 25%
Gary Johnson/Bill Weld (LIB): 9%
Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka (GRE): 5%
Other: 8%U.S. SENATE:
Patrick Murphy (DEM): 43%
Marco Rubio (REP): 40%
Paul Stanton (LIB): 7%
Other: 10%AMENDMENT 1:
Yes: 53%
No: 25%
Need More Information to Decide: 22%AMENDMENT 2:
Yes: 78%
No: 14%
Need More Information to Decide: 8%AMENDMENT 3:
Yes: 66%
No: 11%
Need More Information to Decide: 23%AMENDMENT 5:
Yes: 38%
No: 22%
Need More Information to Decide: 40%MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE:
Economy/Jobs: 35%
Education: 23%
Foreign Policy/Terrorism: 20%
Health Care: 12%
Environment: 10%MAIN SOURCE OF CAMPAIGN NEWS:
Social Media: 42%
Television (regular broadcast or cable): 32%
Newspapers (print or online, including apps): 22%
Radio: 4%___________________________________
DEMOGRAPHICS OF RESPONDENTS:
Race/Ethnicity: White/Caucasian (54%), Hispanic/Latino (19%), Black/African-American (12%), Asian (8%), Other (7%)
Gender: Male (52%), Female (47%), Other (1%)
Age: 18-34 (94%), Younger than 18 (2%), 35-49 (2%), 50-64 (2%)
Current Status: Student (94%), Faculty (4%), Staff (2%)
