Senior Kaleb Hernandez is voting a Presidential ballot this week, “I don’t really know how to feel about it. I mean it is my first election and my first time voting.”
He is taking the responsibility seriously knowing his choice matters but the candidates and issues are overwhelming, “Yes, I feel like our country is hurting right now. Just the way that politics are going. I feel like anybody in office is going to make something way worse than it should have been.”
Another senior, Grant Pebbles will turn 18 just days after November 5, 2024, too late to vote in this Presidential election. However, he is following the events closely, “Voting is very important. About twenty percent of the U.S. did not vote last year or the last four years for our last presidential election.”
He’s not wrong, in fact, according to the Pew Research Center, the elections of 2018, 2020, and 2022 saw the highest voter turnout across the country. However, that means 44% of the voting-eligible population did not cast a ballot in the 2020 presidential election.
Pebbles said this year, it feels different, “I feel like it’s a pretty close race. We can both have better candidates than what we have right now.”
School executive secretary Lila Downing said she is scared going into the election, “I think the country is in turmoil. People want change, but I think they’re grasping at it, I don’t want to say straws, but they are. They want change so badly that they’re willing to accept it in any form. And that’s not always the right answer, in my opinion.”
Downing believes that women’s rights are on the line, “I think it’s critical. So it’s scary, somebody from my generation looking at you, (a female reporter) standing in front of me. I’m scared. This election means a lot to your future.”
“I am not excited for this year’s voting,” Chemistry teacher Jackson Roland said. He said despite the fact that he’s been voting for years, this one feels different, “I believe this is the hardest one yet with all the controversy. Our world has been divided into two parts when it should be opposite and we should all be working together as one to help our country grow.”
That sentiment and concern is shared by teacher Cara Armstrong, “This year, I’m not really looking forward to voting. With everything happening this year, I do believe that this is hurting the world so much and it might just continue.”
The negative atmosphere may have kept people from registering to vote and then carrying through with marking a ballot.
Back in September 2024, singer Taylor Swift asked her fans to register to vote. That vocal ask may have made a difference in Colorado with the number of online voter registrations. The Secretary of State office, those in charge of elections in our state, said more than 21,000 Coloradans either newly registered to vote or updated their voter registration online the day of the debate and the two days following.
Prior to the presidential debate on September 10, the Colorado Secretary of State’s office saw an average of 1,604 voter registrations and updates each day in September. During the debate, 1,000 voters registered or updated their registration online. Right after the debate, nearly 4,500 voters registered or updated their voter registration online, 900 registered or updated their voter registration in the hour after Swift encouraged her followers to visit vote.org. That trend continued for days after the debate. As of 11 a.m. on Thursday, September 19, there were 3,906,892 total Coloradans registered to vote, including:
- 1,017,664 registered Democrats (26.0%)
- 907,509 registered Republicans (23.2%)
- 1,900,268 Unaffiliated voters (48.6%)
Art teacher Emily Ancona hopes everyone who is registered takes the opportunity to vote this season, “I think it’s very important. I think that if you are old enough and you’re able to vote, everybody should be voting and using it to their advantage.”
Ancona said she is a little nervous about the election, “but I think that I feel pretty positive I think we’ll still learn and grow from this election.”
She said there are a lot of challenges in this country right now, “I think that people forget that we are also a very young country. So we’re still trying to figure it out, and I think we have a lot of issues, and we’ve got a lot of challenges because we’re such a big country, but I think we’ll get there.”
Head security guard Steven Heit said voting is important, “So everybody can get their word across. If you don’t vote, then you don’t have a say in what happens.”
Heit said he knows it’s a close race, “I think that if everybody steps up and does their part, the right person will be elected. I do feel like the country is hurting, and I think that we need a big change. Everybody needs to step up again and do their part.”
If you are 18 years old before November 5, Election Day, you can register to vote in the Presidential election. In Colorado, you must register in person before 7 pm on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.
