After all the ballots were turned in and counted Tuesday, the results were announced for the Maryland primary. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump narrowly secured a majority, winning 54 percent of the Republican vote. Hillary Clinton gained a more substantial lead, winning 63 percent of the Democratic vote.

Along with the presidential primary elections, people also voted in the primaries to fill the vacant seats in Congress. Representative Chris Van Hollen (D) won his senatorial campaign with 53 percent of the votes.

Graphic by Charlotte Alden.

Given that Van Hollen is running for Senate, many are vying for the Democratic nomination for his vacant House seat. Jamie Raskin won and will be facing the Republican candidate in November.

Graphic by Charlotte Alden.

Voters will have their final say in the general election in November. Whitman seniors and other young voters (18-29) make up 21 percent of the voting population, according to Civic Youth.

Students used to tag along with their parents and press the buttons on the voting machine; this time, they had the privilege of fulfilling their civic duty and casting their own votes in their first primary election.

“I was really nervous to vote but it was exciting at the same time, I felt proud turning in my ballot,” senior Charly Walter said. “I think it’s important to vote, especially young people because you’re given an opportunity to make a change in this country.”

Senior Joseph Grunwald voted for Sanders, Van Hollen and Raskin yesterday. Grunwald believes that Van Hollen’s wealth of experience as our Congressional Representative and Raskin’s ability to get beneficial legislation passed made them the best choices as our leaders, he said.

“I feel like [Sanders] represents young people because he’s giving voice to their concerns such as how college has become prohibitively expensive for many people, and how much of government policy is heavily influenced by big banks and financial institutions,” Grunwald said.

Graphic by Charlotte Alden.

Other students are more conservative in their beliefs, disagreeing with Sanders’ liberal stance, yet they don’t necessarily like Donald Trump’s ideas either.

One senior girl, who requested her name be withheld, agrees with Ted Cruz’s policies.

“My brother worked on his campaign and he was such a genuine nice guy. He was so down to earth and really took control of his campaign, so I would hope if he is elected that he would take control of his actions as president,” she said.

Another senior girl, also wanting to be kept anonymous, voted for Kasich because she feels that his policies are more moderate than the other Republican candidates, she said.

Graphic by Charlotte Alden.

Because all candidates are very different, some students focus on the candidate’s party affiliation, rather than their proposed policies, senior Ethan Sorcher said.

“We have so many young people who say ‘I’m gonna vote Democratic or Republican because that’s my party’,” Sorcher said. “But they never take the time to see what the people stand for, what their views are on issues that are critical to our country.”

With controversies over gender comments to economic ideas to foreign policy stances, citizens watch the evolving drama as it continues to occur between now and November.

“This election will be known as one of the most infamous in terms of how immature and stupid the political discourse has become,” Grunwald said.