What Is The Importance Of The 2016 Election

I remember talking with friends in my early teen years about what it would be like to vote. We did some math, and deduced that we’d all be 18 by the time the 2016 Presidential election. However, what we didn’t anticipate, was how dominating the election would be over our lives-- we simply thought, come voting day, that we’d walk in and easily choose the candidate of our choice. There was no anticipation of the fact that we’d also be freshly enrolled in college, an environment so tuned in to politics. However, we’re here now, and discussions of the 2016 elections have been rampant among students. In the interview I conducted regarding the elections, it is clear that students are very interested in the 2016 Presidential election, lacking the …show more content…
Even in a more typical election year, voting is massively vital. To vote is to exercise one’s involvement in their community, to have a voice in how their lives will be affected by the actions of those in office. As Dr. Judith Rich argues in an article for the Huffington Post, “Our democracy is founded upon the principle of free and fair elections in which every eligible citizen casts a vote. We must work to ensure that our electoral process is conducted in accordance with this principle and that those who seek to derail the process do not win the day,” (Rich). In other words, we have fought for the right to vote, and to not take part in voting is to not be a part of the democracy that has been handed to us. Voting, as well as making the decision not to vote, will ultimately change not only one’s own life, but will also historically change the course of the …show more content…
First off, students are not politically apathetic. Instead, they hold strong beliefs, and are generally democratic and somewhat independent. In the survey, it was found that all students are registered, are planning on voting, and care about who gets elected. Also, interestingly, all of the students interviewed would vote for candidate Bernie Sanders if they were to vote today. Regarding actual issues students would vote for a candidate because of, variation was also lacking. A whopping 80% of students feel that curtailing global warming is high up on their list of important issues, followed by a tie between the view that government should provide health insurance for all and the view that we should reduce high tuition rates (see Figure 1). I found it compelling that the students interviewed are so unified, however, after thinking about it for awhile, it began to make sense. Often, people share the beliefs that those around them have. In a dorm setting, we all live in very close quarters, and interact with one another on a daily basis in a multitude of ways. It’s no wonder that most of the interviewees share the same opinions. Extending this idea further, as students, we all have many of the same private issues that ultimately have become public issues due to the number of students on this campus. For example, everyone must pay tuition to attend UCSB, which makes the overall consensus of students about