By Sandra Aggrey
With Barack Obama winning the majority of student votes back in 2008, many are left wondering if the young population will carry as much weight in this year’s presidential election.
It is no secret that students are often criticised over their lack of interest in all things politics, so it was a surprise to many when studies showed that the number of students who voted in the last election had been higher than ever. With issues such as financial aid, tuition fees and youth unemployment being more prevalent than ever, will the young once again vote in their masses to get their voices heard?
CCSU student, Karen Jenson who was one of the majority that voted for Obama in 2008 ,explained why this year will be a different story for her. “I have a legal inability to vote this year. It’s unfortunate because neither me or my family live in Middletown town any more and I kind of missed the ball when it came to switching my voter registration to New Britain because of school work.”
The 25-year-old went on to explain that her vote would’ve alternatively been casted elsewhere if she were able to vote. “I would’ve voted 3rd party because I don’t particularly like the Democrats or Republicans or the policies they stand for. I feel like Obama has done some things I would agree with but he’s also not done things that I feel he should have.”
Issues with practicality seemed to be a running theme when it came to whether students at CCSU voted this year or not. 24-year-old Azrielle Steele, who is registered in her home town of Greenwhich, said it was too far for her to make a trip back home to vote.
“I would’ve voted for Obama and I feel that he will once again get the studentvote because he actually cares and wouldn’t take away tuition like Romney.” She went on to add, “I’m both excited and scared for the results, scared because Romney might win and that won’t be good for the country and especially young people.”
19-year old-student Amanda Keator also stated that her reason for not voting was down to lack of time. “I’m registered to vote in my home town of Milford but I didn’t manage to vote today because I had a lot of much school work. To be honest I haven’t been able to pay as much attention as I should’ve because I’m always busy doing something, if I’m not working, I’m doing extracurricular activities.”
Keator still maintains that she would’ve voted for Obama. “I think students will also mostly vote for him because from what I believe he’s advocating for lower tuition so it gives students with less money more opportunity.”
However, New Haven resident Amber Reed made the intentional decision not to vote. “I didn’t register because this year I don’t agree with the candidates that we have to choose from,” she clarified.
“I feel like with Mitt Romney everybody only sees him as this rich white guy that’s another Bush and with Obama nobody’s going to respect him because he tries so hard to do all these things to help the economy but people are just focused on things like his birth certificate and they just don’t respect him. Both candidates won’t be respected either way so their policies just aren’t going to be passed or they’re going to pass the wrong policies to impress the right people.”