The turmoil currently occurring in the fight for the U.S. presidency has left Sacramento State students frustrated with the length of time it is taking and aware of how much their individual votes count.

“I feel it’s kind of ridiculous, and it has taken so long. It shows there’s been a lack of responsibility or lack of communication,” said student Paul Brunetta.

Waiting to find out who will be the next president has left another student, Jaclyn Johnson, wishing she had voted.

“I wish I would have voted because of the problems that are evolving; because of it being so close. I think maybe my vote would have made some difference,” said Johnson.

Around midnight Pacific Time on Election Tuesday, the media announced that George W. Bush had won the 43rd presidency. As people waited for Bush to give his acceptance speech, the media suddenly explained they had made a mistake. Gore was now in the lead and the presidential election was not over. The tables turned again, at around 2 a.m., when they announced that Bush had won the presidential election again.

“It was ridiculous. First the media put it in the Gore camp, then they revoked it and later put it in the Bush camp. Then they revoked it again,” said student Kyle Theile. “The media coverage was mediocre and inaccurate. They were giving the candidates states before the polls were actually counted.”

For only the fourth time in U.S. history, one candidate seems to have won the popular vote, with the other winnning the Electoral College. Gore is 97,773 votes ahead in the popular vote, (48,707,413 to 48,609,640) but the Electoral College is still up in the air.

The discrepancy in the Electoral College and popular vote turnouts has left some dissatisfied with the system, but some Sac State students believe that the system should not be changed.

“The electoral vote is in the Constitution and to change it in favor of a candidate is unconstitutional,” said Samantha Chu, a graduate student in pre-dentistry.

“I think the Electoral College is working; it’s worked for so long. It shouldn’t be changed, and they should hurry up and decide because right now we don’t have the next president,” said Oscar Serrano, a senior majoring in civil engineering.

Gore asked for a recount of six million votes in Florida. On Thursday, the recount showed Bush had won Florida by a slight margin of 229 votes, after which Gore appealed for a hand recount. GOP officials suggested that Gore should give up, but Gore’s campaign responded, “This election is not over.”

“I’m in favor of the recount and I feel that the popular vote candidate should win. It hasn’t discouraged me from voting. They should come up with a better voting solution,” said Theresa Garnica, a Sac State transition officer.

The Bush campaign refuted Gore’s decision to file eight lawsuits against the results of the election by filing a countersuit against the recounting of votes by hand.

The election confusion has left Sac State students asking themselves whether or not their votes would have made a difference.

“It definitely motivates me to vote (in the next election). If you don’t vote, you don’t have a right to complain,” said student Cameron Kenney.

“I kind of want it to end and find out who won,” said freshman Tim Scott, a computer science major.