Voting in the Presidential Election for the First Time

For many college students, this upcoming election is the first one they will ever be voting in, and it is definitely one that will make history. The main opponents are a strong republican with no previous political experience, and a woman (who has extensive experience but her gender is still seen as the most important point of her stance). Needless to say, either way this election goes, it will be one to remember.

This year it seems like more people are registering to vote than ever, and there are a few possible reasons for this. Primarily, the two main opponents in the election seem like polar opposites. People are afraid that if their chosen candidate doesn’t win, their entire lifestyles will change forever. Another possible explanation is that people who declared their party in the past years no longer agree with the person who is running in their party’s name. Many republicans agree with the republican party but do not agree with Donald Trump, and this situation is equally as possible for democrats.

According to the New York Times article, I Registered to Vote… For This?, more people could be voting in the election than ever before. Although this is true, not many people interviewed for this article claim to have been excited to cast their ballot. The severity of Trump’s views might be his undoing. Of the interviewed Clinton supporters, some of them claimed their support was more ‘against Trump’ than ‘for Clinton’. Trump’s harsh views on immigrants, different ethnicities, religions, and many other stances has caused many voters to begrudgingly support Clinton. Many notable republicans, including Republican Party 2012 nominee Mitt Romney and former first lady Barbara Bush, have publicly refused to support Trump regardless of their shared political party. Former first lady Barbara Bush said to CBS regarding Trump, “I mean, unbelievable. I don’t know how women can vote for someone who said what he said about Megyn Kelly.”

On the other side of the spectrum, former Bernie Sanders supporters are lost at sea. Once Clinton became the democratic nominee, Sanders publicly supported her and created campaign events on her behalf. However, not all of Sanders supporters followed him in this endeavor. Clinton and Sanders have astronomically different views on how to govern the country so it is unlikely that Sanders supporters will easily crossover to Clinton just because they share a common party.

So what does this mean for millenial women? As a first time voting for many people, this is a huge and controversial one for sure. Most people’s minds seem to be made up already, regardless of the politics of the candidates. One choice leads to a huge sign of feminism, a woman president in power of the entire country. Are enough citizens in the United States ready for this change? The other choice is the traditional white older male, with a twist. Trump has no previous political experience. As a millennial, I’m excited to take this step to become a voter. I have a say in the future of my country and I will be able to help determine the turnout of this momentous election. Our chance is coming up to become a part of something bigger than our classroom. College students everywhere will be able to take their 18+ years of education and knowledge to the polls and help shape our world into a better place.