Spectrum Poll Indicates Trump Leads Opponents

EMILY BEAMAN | THE SPECTRUM Nearly half of polled participants said they would vote for Donald Trump.
EMILY BEAMAN | THE SPECTRUM
Nearly half of polled participants said they would vote for Donald Trump.

A new poll suggests nearly half of North Dakota State undergraduate students are likely to vote for Donald Trump on Tuesday.

The data indicates 48 percent of students planning to cast a ballot would vote for Trump. Hillary Clinton received 26 percent of the poll’s vote; Gary Johnson received 14 percent.

The Spectrum, in collaboration with the statistics department of North Dakota State, polled 500 students within the last month on an array of questions, including the presidential election.

Rhonda Magel, statistics department chair, also said the proportion of female voters is “significantly greater” than male voters to vote Clinton, mirroring national polls.

The polling sample indicated 30 percent of female students would vote for Clinton, compared to only 19 percent of male students.

In terms of college-by-college breakdown, a few items should be taken into consideration.

The sample was not directly proportional to NDSU’s figures. The college of business was overrepresented and the college of engineers underrepresented.

“The other majors looked really good,” Magel said.

The college of agriculture, food systems and natural resources was a stronghold for Trump. He picked up 64 percent of the vote, the largest figure of any college.

Only one college primarily backed Clinton. Students in the college of human development and education gave Clinton 36 percent of the vote. HD&E’s 28 percent toward Trump was the smallest figure of any college.

The poll’s margin of error was plus-or-minus 4.4 percentage points.

“That means we are 95 percent confident that the percentage of students who vote that are planning to vote for Trump is between 45.5 percent and 54.5 percent,” Magel said. “You could also say that we are 95 percent confident the proportion of students planning to vote for Clinton is between 21.5 percent and 30.5 percent.”

The Spectrum also polled students on topics regarding campus Wi-Fi and President Dean Bresciani. Stay tuned for those results in the upcoming weeks.

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