Leading up to Election Day, the energy at Emory University was tense. Emotions filled the classrooms and buildings as many students participated in their first presidential election — an unpredictable race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump that had many voters feeling anxious about the outcome.
Both returning voters and first-time voters attending Emory had a unique opportunity to both participate in the democratic process and to serve as a key voice in Georgia, a contentious swing state.
The early voting period in Georgia lasted from Oct. 15 to Nov. 1, during which more than 4 million Georgians cast ballots. Many Emory students voted early, while others mailed absentee ballots to their home states or planned to vote on Election Day. To better understand the preferences and emotions of first-time voters at Emory, The Emory Wheel spoke to eight first-time voters about their anxieties, the policies they value the most and what this election means to them.
Toby Zakai, 28C
Toby Zakai (28C), a student from Maryland, voted in his first presidential election this October. Zakai, a first-year student, voted by mail in his home state because he missed Georgia’s registration deadline. Zakai chose to vote because of motivation from his family and because he felt a strong sense of responsibility to make his voice heard.
“My decision to vote was mostly just my friends and family,” Zakai said. “They’re like, ‘you should vote for this person,’ but I was going to vote for them anyways because what they're saying aligns with my values.”
Despite not following the presidential debates “closely,” Zakai believes that former President Donald Trump’s method of campaigning makes the election feel “less serious.” While Trump’s 2016 campaign hinged on his status as an outsider rather than a politician, Trump’s current non-traditional strategies and rhetoric left Zakai feeling unsatisfied.
“Trump is very out there,” Zakai said. “He's not a traditional candidate, so it kind of makes the election feel less different.”
Caroline Hansen, 25C
California native Caroline Hansen’s (25C) perspective on the electoral process has not changed since adolescence. Although Hansen is voting in her first presidential election, she has witnessed first-time voting before — through her mother.
Hansen’s mom was not yet a U.S. citizen before the 2016 election, meaning she could not vote at the time. However, she sought citizenship following Trump’s inauguration.
“My mom wasn’t a U.S. citizen then, and she became a U.S. citizen specifically because Trump won and she wanted to vote against Trump,” Hansen said. “ She didn't want it to happen again.”
The main issues in this election for Hansen are abortion and the rise of hateful rhetoric. Hansen noted that she hopes her vote will prevent hate and stereotypes from spreading.
“Giving someone more power media-wise can lead to some really damaging stereotypes about certain people and can be really, really harmful,” Hansen said. “I want to make sure that my vote can hopefully lead to that not happening again.”
Hansen discussed Georgia’s integral role in the election and the impact her vote can have in Georgia.
“When I got into Emory, my mom's first thing was: ‘You have to register to vote in Georgia,’” Hansen said.
Annika Sun, 26C
Annika Sun (26C) registered to vote in Georgia in hopes of influencing the election’s outcome in the state. Although Sun is from Connecticut, she recognizes the power swing states such as Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia hold.
“In Connecticut, it's a really blue state, and it always is,” Sun said. “I felt like Georgia's a very important state, even for governor elections, so I felt like my vote would be more important here.”
Sun has voted in the 2022 senatorial and gubernatorial elections in Georgia. However, it was her first time voting in a presidential election. She cited abortion as an issue that inspired her to vote.
“[Abortion] could directly affect me,” Sun said. “I felt like it was important to vote.”
Leading up to the election, many components influenced Sun’s voting choice.
“Me and all my friends sat and watched the debate when it happened,” Sun said. “The debate was nice because, in ads, they don't actually talk about issues. In the debate, they were actually talking about the issues.”
The election gave Sun a new perspective on politics, campaigning and voting compared to previous elections.
“I pay more attention now, and it's more important to me when I feel like I couldn't vote,” Sun said. “Yes, it was important, and I was sort of paying attention, but I wasn't really watching the debate because I wasn't helping make a decision.”
Sun expressed anxiety about the potential outcome and stressed the need for more action from politicians.
“I feel like it's up to the candidates to get people off their couch and vote,” Sun said. “At this point, people have made up their minds, and it's just about getting as many people to vote as possible.”
Abhinav Dandamudi, 28C
First-year student Abhinav Dandamudi (28C) expressed excitement about voting. Dandamudi said that the election encouraged him to pay attention to domestic issues.
“I am more interested in focusing on the state of the country rather than focusing on international affairs because I think there's a lot of things that we could fix with the country,” Dandamudi. “We should turn our focus inward.”
Dandamudi’s views on the candidates have largely remained the same since he became eligible to vote in the U.S.
“It's basically the same thing as it was four years ago, just a different Democratic candidate,” Dandamudi said. “But I feel like it's a really polarized country, and it's just interesting to see how it goes in the future.”
Dandamudi said that watching the debates helped inform his vote.
“The debates have been really interesting, seeing how they contrast with each other,” Dandamudi said. “So, I've been mostly watching those.”
Dandamudi urged future first-time voters to cast their ballots when eligible.
“You only turn 18 once,” Dandamudi said. “You as well may vote for the first time.”
William McNally, 28C
Minnesota native William McNally (28C) believes that Americans have a civic responsibility to make informed and responsible decisions based on the availability of useful information. Paying careful attention to the candidates’ policies guided McNally’s vote.
“Harris talks a lot about providing certain grants and loans to lower-income people,” McNally said. “I think that's really important, especially for people who are just getting into buying houses.”
McNally explained that he also appreciates Vice President Kamala Harris’ approach to other national and international issues, including the geopolitical alliances and the border.
“I like that Harris wants to stay within our alliances and stay with our allies,” McNally said. “She is very much open to helping get a better situation with the border.”
After Harris replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee on July 21, McNally’s perspective on voting in the election changed.
“It's definitely been interesting to see what Harris is about because, obviously, we had Biden before, so I've mostly been focusing on him,” McNally said. “But now [with] Harris, stuff I had heard about her before that she was pretty liberal, but now she's kind of shifted her views, and I like that she's done that.”
When considering effective marketing and advertisements, McNally believes both candidates have effectively leveraged younger generations.
“I would say both of them have done a really nice job of trying to reach younger voters through podcasts and reaching out to younger celebrities rather than just doing big rallies,” McNally said. “Both of them have actually done that really well.”
Emily Chea, 28C
Now that she’s eligible to vote, Emily Chea (28C) feels empowered that she can express her opinion in local and global affairs. In this presidential election, Chea had no issue speaking up and choosing a side.
“I feel like I'm very left-leaning in general, so I definitely align with Kamala a lot more than I do with Trump,” Chea said. “But something that also bugs me about Trump is his lack of policy ideas. He has a lot of concepts of plans and nothing too concrete, and I don't really like his concepts either.”
Chea’s perspective on the democratic process has changed since she arrived at Emory and became eligible to vote.
“I feel like before, I didn't think of it as something really serious,” Chea said. “But as I'm now 18, I'm in college, I know a lot of different people from different backgrounds, I feel like it's really, really important that we all go vote.”
Liam Cochran, 28C
First-year Liam Cochran (28C) recently voted at Emory’s 1599 Clifton Road polling location. Cochran, who grew up in Mississippi but now lives in Texas, said he felt “a lot of pride and confidence” voting after walking out of the polling center.
“This is cliché, but I felt like I counted,” Cochran said.
By voting, Cochran believes he performed his “civic duty,” an act he finds particularly important given his upbringing in Mississippi, the site of immense political and civic change.
“The way that African Americans and civil rights leaders saw participating in democracy was that you had to vote,” Cochran said. “That's how they changed the world that they were in, which was not working for them.”
Despite the general dissatisfaction regarding this election and the candidates, Cochran expressed positivity about the future of the country’s democracy.
“I feel like the candidates have been very old recently, but I feel as if a new generation is stepping into the political scene of America, that being our parents' generation and the youngest of the boomers,” Cochran said.
With this new generation, Cochran is hopeful for a bright future that is more representative of younger voices.
“I feel very excited about that being the state of our country at the moment because I don’t feel very represented sometimes when I see [82]-year-old Mitch McConnell,” Cochran said. “It’s nice to see a younger crowd coming into U.S. politics and making a decision for this country.”
In the weeks preceding election day, Cochran noticed both parties’ election ads on YouTube and noted how it impacted the way he viewed both candidates.
“It gives me a snippet into what the main driving sources of policy that each party is using,” Cochran said of the YouTube ads. “It also distills down the policy of each party into a very concise framework… I don't think it's been the most effective, but I think it's been the most informative to me.”
