Democratic/Republican

Both Republican presidential-nominee Donald Trump and Democratic presidential-nominee Hillary Clinton are spending a substantial amount of time and money suppressing their past negative statements, actions and partnerships. According to the Washington Post, Clinton’s long-standing private email server scandal has stirred the pot for both sides.

Although it is a national election, it boils down to a state-by-state competition to determine the next American President. According to USA.gov, the process that occurs every four years follows this schedule: the candidates first announce their intention to run, followed by the primary and caucus debates that start up the nomination conventions and finally the presidential debates this September and October.

American people have the freedom to cast their vote for the candidate that most closely represents their beliefs. A popular topic that has caused controversy this election year is immigration reform.

Libertarians, Republicans and Democrats continue to disagree. The New York Times lists that 11 million undocumented immigrants are in the United States, down from 12 million in 2007. Discussions over illegal immigration turn into arguments over economic policies towards undocumented immigrants and border security.  Sally Bessette, a junior at ACHS who sides with the Republicans, agreed.

“It should be hard to get into the country illegally, but not quite so hard to get in legally,” Bessette said.

“We have a broken system,” Lee said. “We need stronger border control […] reform to slow the speed at which we allow immigrants into this country.”

Immigration reform is one topic that is focused on in the media. Along with many other issues currently facing the country, Clinton and Trump will address this topic during the first presidential debate on September 26. With opposing views on immigration and the acceptance of refugees into the United States, the debate will be fueled with strong perspectives between the two candidates.

Libertarian

Despite the long-standing, two party tradition, Trump and Clinton are not alone; Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson’s hat is in the ring, pulling voters from all political parties, often those who won’t vote for either of the leading nominees. According to Rolling Stone, Gary Johnson is estimated to earn 0.99 percent of votes this election year.

Sophomore Ben Lee believes Gary Johnson is the candidate to follow.

“The American electorate have started to reject the ‘lesser of two evils’ notion,” Lee said. “This election could be very historic; this election could be the first where third parties receive significant support.”

A third party candidate portrays American democracy in its purest form. The additional third party provides all individuals, those undecided as well, the chance to voice an opinion; a right that is available to all citizens. According to the Libertarian National Committee, Johnson is one of the outstanding presidential candidates since the founding of the Libertarian party in 1971. The Libertarian party is continuing to cause uproars in the polls leading up to election day this November.