Many students say they're not voting, not interested or don't care

Don’t be surprised if a lot of students skip the polls Tuesday. In interviews with over 50 Santa Ana College students last week, only 15 answered “yes” when asked if they were going to be voting in the upcoming election. Another 15 answered “no” and the rest were undecided if they would vote at all.

On campus, voting didn’t seem to be on most students’ radar.

“I don’t care,” one student said.

The sentiment of disinterest carried through the majority of interviews.

“I am not interested,” another student admitted.

Some students said they were uncomfortable discussing politics while others struggled to articulate a reason for their decision against voting or being undecided. While the discussion of politics seemed to scare off some students, others admitted to not knowing enough information to vote.

According to Associate Professor of Political Science Philippe Andrade, younger adults are less likely to vote.

“It is not expected to talk to a bunch of college students which will generally be in the age bracket of eighteen to thirty and hear a kind of apathetic response,” said Andrade.

However, not all students are disengaged. Johnny Vasquez is ready to vote and knows why. Though voting can be overwhelming, Vasquez said he tries to stay informed with local and national politics.

“I think it is mostly important to vote for the local election because that’s where my voice is going to have a say in what happens,” said Vasquez.

For some, this will be their first time voting in a presidential election. First-time voter Jace Zaragoza is ready to vote, stating, “I’ve been wanting to vote since I was 12. The 2016 election motivated me to want to vote. It’s something I’ve wanted to do because I’ve seen the impact it has.”

However, even students who said they will be voting questioned the power of their voice in the national election.

“We live in a left-state and our state is going to go one way,” said Vasquez. “It’s up to Congress on the national election. We don’t have a say in the big picture.”

Not every student had an opinion to share and many failed to put their indecisiveness about voting into words. When asked to give a reason for being undecided, most students stumbled over their thoughts while others admitted to not having a reason.

“I just haven’t given it much thought,” said a student who, like Zaragoza, had just turned 18.