In the week leading up to the presidential election, TSL polled a random sample of 125 5C students outside dining halls on their overall opinions going into election day.
As noted in the accompanying chart, less than 50 percent of the surveyed 5C students reported feeling that their vote mattered. A little over 70 percent recognized the specific state that they had voting residence in as being a primary factor in determining the real impact of their individual vote on the election results.
Susan McWilliams Barndt, a professor of politics at Pomona College, offered her perspective, addressing students who doubt the importance of their individual vote.
“I think anybody who claims their vote doesn’t matter is thinking too much about national politics and not thinking enough about local elections and statewide initiatives,” McWilliams said.
McWilliams used the city of Claremont as an example, highlighting two crucial local elections: the school board and the city council.
“At stake in those elections are what gets taught in our schools and whether or not renters are allowed to be kicked out by landlords for all sorts of different reasons,” she said.
To voters who remained undecided or abstained from the election because they didn’t feel their personal views fully aligned well with one candidate, McWilliams passed down an analogy she learned from a friend.
“Voting isn’t like getting an Uber or Lyft where it’s going to take you exactly where you want to go,” she said. “Voting is like public transit. You need to get on the train or bus that will get you closest to where you want to go.”
When asked about her thoughts on young voters’ impact on the election, McWilliams reiterated that any potential impact traces back to actual participation.
“If people wonder or complain why we have a whole bunch of rich old people in charge of this country, rich people vote at about a 90 percent voting rate,” McWilliams said. “Old people vote at the highest voting rate, so no wonder the people in charge look a lot like the people who vote the most.”
McWilliams emphasized the importance of the youth vote because, historically speaking, “when young people vote, young people win.”
Although the majority of the 125 students TSL surveyed said they were definitely planning to vote for Kamala Harris, an overwhelming 61.1 percent of the sample reported doubts about her ability to actually win the election.
Some of those who reported voting for Trump quoted his economic policy and fears of the “woke mind virus” as their reasoning, while survey participants who voted for Harris mainly mentioned reproductive rights, climate change and immigration policies.
Out of the 125 5C students TSL randomly surveyed, 97.6 percent shared that they were both registered and planning to vote in the presidential election, an overwhelming majority that reflects the extent of campus political participation.
McWilliams expressed gratitude for the energy that she witnessed students putting into the election.
“I’m very proud of those students who were, in one way or another, active in this election,” McWilliams said. “I know it can be awkward or uncomfortable to do so given the current climate in the nation and on the campuses.”
While acknowledging the voter participation on campus, McWilliams stressed in her interview that voting is not the only important thing people should do as citizens and residents of the United States. She explained that only participating in isolated political events like the presidential election can lead to unsatisfactory results.
“It is so important to get involved in politics long before election day,” McWilliams said. “You have to either create or become the kind of candidate that you want to see running; you can’t expect other people to do that work for you, because they don’t know how you think.”
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