After months of campaigns and political discussions in both the news media and casual conversation, voters nationwide walked into polling stations today and marked their ballots for the next president.

Eight and a half hours after polls opened, TalonWP interviewed several voters who had just cast their ballots at the Moreland Apartments in San Jose, located about five minutes away from the Upper School.

Among the four interviewed, three voted for President Barack Obama. Although their decisions can be attributed to California’s status as a predominantly Democratic state, there were a variety of other influencing factors.

Carlos Gutierrez identified Obama as the candidate he “most to” because he agreed with the majority of his policies. He felt that a victory was necessary for Obama to continue the reforms made during his first term.

“Last [election] was change, and this year was if you wanted to keep the change going in [the] direction you wanted,” he said, referring to Obama’s 2008 campaign slogan.

Linda Engstrom and Simon Deng also agreed that Obama needed more time to put his plans and policies into action. Obama’s ongoing health care reform was an especially important factor in Deng’s vote.

“There are 40-something million people who are uninsured. They will be insured under the law [with Obama’s] health care, which is a great accomplishment,” he said.

On the other hand, one voter gave her support to Governor Mitt Romney after seeing no improvement in the nation throughout Obama’s four-year presidency. Trang Nguyen’s impression of the president was also tarnished by knowledge of his government spending.

“[The Obamas] go on vacation for family, and they have to get the money from the government,” she said. “That’s not right. I saw a lot of things, but [in] four years [there has] not been change.”

Voters could also cast ballots in favor of or against state propositions that they felt particularly strongly about.

Nguyen, Engstrom, and Deng voted in favor of Proposition 30, which would temporarily increase taxes on incomes over $250,000 as well as all sales taxes to fund public education.

“I have a kid too, and they need to go to school. [Tax money] is funds for the kids,” Nguyen said.

Engstrom and Deng also supported Proposition 34, which would repeal the death penalty as well as provide a one-time grant of $100 million to local law enforcement to investigate rape and murder cases.

“I voted to repeal [because] we have to change, not [kill] people. We can put them in life imprisonment,” Deng said.

Another popular proposition was Proposition 37, which would require foods containing genetically modified ingredients to be labeled.

“I’d like to know which [foods are] changed or modified. I don’t see why not to. Obviously there’s going to be a cost involved, but that’s how it’s going to happen,” Engstrom said.

With this year already breaking the record for the most election spending in U.S. history, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, Engstrom wished to see future revisions in the election process. In addition to hoping for less extremism and a more balanced two-party system, she also wanted more honest information relayed to the public.

“I know that all politicians fudge the truth, and I know Obama’s said some things that don’t strictly pan out, but I felt that Romney in particular said some outright falsehoods that were later shown by fact checkers,” she said. “That never seems to really get into the public consciousness somehow, and I think that’s really too bad.”

With Obama officially re-elected as the next president, voters contributed to the political process regardless of their preferences.