By: Bri Davis
Feb. 20, 2024
Imagine I told you that, although you’re a college student, your single vote could significantly impact the education you receive, the pay you earn at your job and your future in general.
Would you vote?
You probably would.
However, college students seem to be unenthusiastic about the upcoming election.
Are the candidates to blame?
In the 2020 presidential election, Generation Z and Millennial voters turned out in record numbers to vote for then-candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Yet, a new poll released in December 2023 by the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School, “finds waning enthusiasm among younger voters for a Biden-Trump rematch, with more of them saying they may vote for a third-party candidate or just sit out the 2024 election.”
This poses a potential issue for both candidates, as it seems younger voters do not trust another Biden-Trump rematch to handle key policy issues that matter to them such as gun control, climate change, healthcare, crime and the wars between Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas.
“The number of younger Americans aged 18-29 who say they’ll “definitely” vote in the 2024 election has dropped from 57 percent to 49 percent,” according to the Harvard poll.
We walked around High Point University, to get a feel for what college students thought about the upcoming presidential election, particularly a potential Biden-Trump rematch.
“I think it’s time that we have a candidate that relates more to our generation,” said HPU, senior Kristarae Poell.
When speaking with HPU, freshman Jaeden Anderson she said, “I think both candidates have had ample amount of time to make progress within our society, but have fallen short on making actual change in things that impact our generation. I wish there would be someone new to vote for.”
Yet, the likelihood of a competitive third-party candidate emerging is unlikely.
“As a political identity, “independent” has polled better than Democrat or Republican since 2009,” according to Gallup.
What are college students who don't relate to either candidate supposed to do?
Most pick the lesser of two evils.
"I'll probably vote Biden, but that's only because I have to," said HPU, freshman Jaeden Anderson.
College students on the campus of HPU and around the country should not have to settle for a candidate they don't want to see in office. Our country must do more to ensure that voters from every age range are supported in the democratic process.
After all, young adults are the future of our democracy.
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