A Complicated Time to Vote: Senior’s Experiences
Featured Image: @element5digital
It was Saturday, October 24th, the first day of early voting. The polls opened at 10:00 am, and my family and I all wanted to go together. Getting my first “I voted” sticker felt like it was going to be a real accomplishment. Maybe it would be.
We arrived at the polls on Sullivan Street at 9:45 am with the expectation that we would be in and out quickly. I was in disbelief when I saw that the line stretched around five separate streets at opening hours. I did not know that the electricity would go out 10 minutes after they opened their doors. Before arriving, I did not know that I would be waiting at all.
We didn’t leave until 3:00 pm.
As of the 29th of October, more than 80 million Americans have voted early. This far exceeds the turnout for voting early in 2016. According to The Pew Research Center, 137.5 million people voted in 2016. Early voting has already made up about two-thirds of the 2016 electorate body and already exceeds either candidates’ 2016 total vote count. All indicators point to one of the highest voter turnouts ever.
While I may have voted in person, there were many students who voted by mail.
One said that she, “Didn’t go in person because of corona,” saying it was “Kind of scary because there’s always the chance that something goes wrong mailing wise.”
Another senior who voted from home agreed, stating that, “It’s just hard to think that my vote might not be counted because of a completely exaggerated threat,” which is part of the reason why it’s all the more interesting to be part of the body of first-time voters. No election will be like this again.
Another senior told me how “grateful [he was] to get a say in the most important election of [his] lifetime.” The same student commented publicly that, “they asked him if [he] was a first-time voter, and when [he] said yes, everyone in the room cheered.”
The results of Tuesday’s election will determine the United States’ future. As young adults who are still high school students, we feel privileged to have a say in the direction of our history.