Senior Sammy Karon is still on the fence about her presidential pick. Like several other seniors, Karon’s birthday falls before Tuesday, November 6, allowing her to vote in the upcoming elections.
“I think that Romney has a better plan for the economy,” Karon said, adding that “I don’t think Obama has done a very good job with the economy while he’s been in office.” She agrees with Obama on other issues, though, including gay marriage and abortion. “I think Obama really has the nation’s best interests at heart when it comes to social stuff,” she said. “That’s why I’m torn.”
Karon does have strong positions on most issues, though, including the two amendments to the Minnesota constitution being proposed this year. On the marriage amendment, she argued that it has no place in the constitution. “No matter what your religion, your marriage license is the same,” she pointed out. “It’s just a legal thing that everyone should be entitled to have,” and is also not an issue that defines Minnesota as a state. “That has nothing to do with our constitution,” she said. “I think that’s really lame.”
On voter ID, she has a more personal argument. Karon volunteers at a nursing home, and has noticed the residents’ enthusiasm for democratic process. She says that many residents “might not know what day it is or what the weather’s like, because they don’t go outside, but they love watching TV and thinking that they have this power in their vote.” She notes that many elderly and infirm would have trouble getting new IDs for the purpose of voting were the amendment passed. “It’s unnecessary, it’s expensive, it’s funds that we don’t have, and it’s going to limit a lot of people’s freedom, it’s going to take away a right that they’ve earned.”
Karon encourages young voters to do their research before voting and also to look beyond their personal spheres at the ballot box. “I hope that people put themselves in the shoes of the people who the amendments will be impacting,” she said. “Voter ID’s not going to impact teenagers at SPA… and we’re not getting married today, but think about who it’s going to impact before you make those decisions.”
Senior Cameron Causey also has the chance to vote this year. His reasons for supporting Obama are varied. “I think he will be better for this country,” Causey said. “He has already gotten us out of a lot of stuff that President Bush got us into, and I also agree with a lot of his policies” on issues like gay marriage and abortion.
Causey supports neither amendment. “I don’t think there’s any need for [the voter ID amendment]… There’s been… 133 cases total in the last 50 years or something. I think it’s ridiculous.”
Causey is still unsure about his positions on more local races. “I’ve mostly just been focusing on the Presidential race” and the constitutional amendments, he said. “I’m not going to vote on [races] if I’m not educated on those issues, which currently I am not.”
Causey is adamant about the importance of voting. “I think it’s important for people to watch the debates and be knowledgeable on the elections that will affect their future,” he said.
Senior Chloe Hite is a great example of a democratic “base” voter. She’s voting for Obama for a host of reasons, including his positions on health care, gay marriage, economic policy and funding for higher education. “I think Obama, overall, represents…the future,” she said, whereas Mitt Romney’s ideas are, in her mind, somewhat archaic. “[Romney’s] personal values, for me, just don’t really make sense. I think family values are fine, and I think that’s great. But…watching some of the Republican convention, some of the things he was saying…seemed like idealistic family values of the 1960’s,” and not as applicable in the modern world.
Hite is also voting no on both constitutional amendments. “I know people who would be affected by the amendments if they went into effect,” she said. “I wouldn’t want that for myself, and I wouldn’t want it for them.”
While Hite is informed about politics, they don’t dominate her life. “I have an opinion, but I’m not super involved…I know enough that I’m comfortable.” Still, she puts a lot of emphasis on the democratic process. “This country is founded on the responsibility of the public to be involved,” Hite said. “To not vote is a waste. It’s wasting your freedom, and it’s saying that it doesn’t matter.”
Senior Farez Siddiqui’s ballot is bound to amuse election judges. Instead of voting along the lines of any particular party, Siddiqui has his own rules to vote by. “Although Obama’s not the best candidate around, he has the most experience, so he could probably do the best job in these next coming four years,” Siddiqui said. “Unless Mitt Romney was a godly competitor,” he bets consistently on incumbents, which includes both Obama and Senator Amy Klobuchar.
On the two amendments proposed to the Minnesota constitution, Siddiqui is an equivocator. “Just to keep stability within the United States, I will probably vote no [on the marriage amendment] and then for the conservatives, I would probably vote for the voter ID,” he said. “It’s only fair that those who can prove that they are citizens of the United States can vote.”
For senior Emily Nordquist, the economy is the top priority, and that’s a big factor in her decision. “I think that Barack Obama cares for the middle class, and he’s always worked to protect the middle class…In the recession that we’re in, it’s crucial for us to grow the economy from the middle class out, versus top-down.”
Nordquist has been working for the Obama campaign to encourage voting in both the Presidential race and on the amendments. “The more we can get out the vote for our president, the more people can get out the vote for the two amendments as well,” she said.
Getting her peers to participate in politics has been one of Nordquist’s biggest focuses this election. “I hope that students become engaged in campaigns so that they can learn how a campaign works,” she said, and “how to actually get involved and be politically informed as young adults.”
Senior Laura Goetz thinks she’ll check Barack Obama’s name on her ballot this year, but she has some reservations about him. “I’m still a little bit torn, because sometimes I really feel like Obama is not doing the most he can do,” she said. “But at the same time, I disagree with Romney on a lot of issues that I think are more important, so I probably will be voting for Obama.”
Goetz is also somewhat skeptical of the potential amendment to the Minnesota constitution that would require voters to present photo IDs at the polls. “I’ve been paying a lot of attention to it, but I’m still pretty undecided,” she said. “I don’t like that it could be used to discriminate against people, but at the same time it’s reasonable [to say that voter fraud is a problem].” On the marriage amendment, however, Goetz is firmly in the vote-no camp.
“Right now, there’s a lot of chances… for change to happen, permanent change,” Goetz said. “Everyone who has a chance to say what they believe in, they should take that chance to say it, because it might be too late when they decide to next election.”
