Elections are right around the corner and students at Bowling Green State University seem to have mixed feelings about making it to the polls this up coming November.
Whether students are registered to vote or not, BGSU students seem to take interest in the same major issues in this presidential election such as the economy, gas prices, and healthcare.
According to The Columbus Dispatch of the 23 million voters under 30, 66 percent chose Obama for the 2008 election. Wood County has picked the president in the past six elections with about 53 percent.
This year, it’s hard to tell if BGSU students will want to make the effort to voice their opinion in November. Younger BGSU students tend to believe their vote might not be as important. There seems to be a trend with students caring about important issues but then feeling it’s unimportant to express them at the polls.
“I think it’s pretty important to voice our opinions,” Taylor Kelm, 18, a marine biology major from Salineville explained but has not personally registered to vote or wanted to take the time to.
“I think students don’t really care because they think none of the issues truly affect them now,” freshman Claire Brothers, 19, architecture major from Columbiana, Ohio said. Brothers is registered to vote but not following the issues as much as she would like.
Some students feel every vote counts and that theirs make a different.
“ I plan to vote in November because I think it’s very important. I turned 18 in the summer after everyone registered in high school when I wasn’t old enough…I’m not really sure if I even know how!” explained pre-nursing major Tori Perez, 18, of North Baltimore. Perez said she is still not registered yet but definitely plans to do so before November.
Austin Collier, 21, exercise science major from Standish, Michigan said he’s not registered either, but wants to do so before the big election. He said he believes getting the economy back to normal is a major issue for the candidates.
Whether their lack of knowledge of the candidates or their future turnout behavior, it’s safe to say, as students grow older they’re more likely to vote later in life. The characteristics of college students can differ from other age groups. Whether living far from home, with different people, and having different priorities, students may focus on other issues before deciding on which candidate is right for our country.
Since BGSU students seem to have mixed feelings about their curiosity and determination to vote, only the future can tell if the county will follow for the seventh election in deciding who will win presidency.
“With our generation, people are either into politics or they aren’t,” Perez added. “It just really depends on the person.”