After a long election cycle, President-elect Donald J. Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a close 306-232 victory. In such a heated race, there were many first time voters heading to the polls, as 10 percent of all voters this year voted for the first time, according to a nationwide exit poll.
“I feel this was a chance to actually express our opinions. Our country has the right to be a democracy, and we should really practice that, because other countries don’t have that,” senior and first-time voter Michelle He said.
According to national exit polls, just 19 percent of voters nationwide were age 18-29, which is the same share as 2012. Nationwide voters aged 18-29 voted for Clinton over Trump 55 to 37 percent. Additionally, voter turnout was down by approximately 18 million voters. This was likely due to a dislike of candidates and political system, as both Trump and Clinton’s approval ratings were at historical lows for presidential candidates.
“[Young voters] are kind of wasting their vote,” He added. “Like I said before, they have the right to practice democracy. Ultimately, their decision is going to affect their future, so why don’t they use it to their advantage?”
Ultimately, nothing could match the feeling of filling in an election ballot for the first time.
“It was really quiet, which was to be expected, but it was definitely kind of exciting to vote for the first time in a general election and submit your ballot,” senior and first-time voter Julia Francisco said.
With America more divided than ever, voters agree that the future of the country for better or for worse is up to the people to decide, even after the election.
“I think it depends on the people and the results. Obviously, tonight there’ll be a lot of really upset people, but I think we can’t know how this impacts America until later,” Francisco added.
“Honestly, it depends on who wins, and you can’t really say right now. You need to see how they stick to their promises, which can be unpredictable. No matter who wins, it’s hard to tell what’s going to happen,” He said.
After one of the largest upsets in presidential election history, President-elect Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States on Jan. 20, 2017.
jeff • Nov 30, 2016 at 7:59 am
This is when you know our generation is the dumbest and weakest is when they want to invest our next generation’s future on government jobs pertaining to a greener society and never do anything about business or our foreign policy, but change the LAW with a conniving and selfish woman, over a brash businessman. seriously? but Christians and metal heads you try to act like they’re all just immature or delusional. Tolerance is a charade for liberals to browbeat everyone who has different opinions. WE ARE NEVER GOING TO CHANGE. thank hat ever god a few generations ago that generation tried to help save ours from our collectively sheep like attitude and incompetence. Say what you want about trump at least he straight up told you why you should dislike him.
Patriot R. Adams • Nov 21, 2016 at 10:49 am
Dear President Obama,
When I went to vote for my candidate for presidency (I will not be disclosing this information), I couldn’t find Barrack Hussein Obama.
What do I do?
From,
An American Citizen
Spelling-Nazi from NoRedInk • Nov 10, 2016 at 4:59 pm
It’s electoral college, not colage. Just to clear things up for you.
Not going 2 reveal name to avoid stuff hapening to mehfor mah opinions • Nov 10, 2016 at 9:31 am
People whine about trump being president because he didnot win popukar vote but the electoral coloage decides not the people if you want someone as president vote for the electoral colage guy who will vote for the canadate you like.
Abigail Kauppila • Nov 11, 2016 at 9:48 am
muh opinions
Anonymous • Nov 14, 2016 at 5:45 pm
Except, we can’t. The voters don’t elect their electors, the parties do. They put forward their picks for electors, who are then put on the ballot along with the presidential candidate. The problem with this system is 1) that the voters can only pick between two sets of candidates and 2) a lot of states don’t even put the electors on the ballot. It’s an unfortunate system that a lot of people aren’t even aware of. Just another example of how bizarre our system of democracy is here in the U.S.