A mix of responsibility and anticipation filled the polls as many USC students cast their ballots for the first time on Super Tuesday.
Before she was of voting age, civic engagement felt “superficial” to Bethany Klause, a freshman business administration major.
Klause: It’s my first time voting and my first time qualified to vote. I always thought it was would be cool to get an ‘I Voted sticker’ and I’ve always looked forward to it. Now feeling like I’m actually contributing to society and the government and that my vote actually matters somewhere’s cool.
Klause prioritized registering to vote and making her voice heard at the polls. However, this isn’t the case for a lot of young people aged 18 to 24.
According to a 2022 Tufts study, national youth voter turnout is declining in the primary elections . In 2018, 28% percent of youth went to the polls. But in 2022, it dropped to 23%.
Low youth voter turnout doesn’t come from a lack of young people’s understanding or care for current political issues, but rather because they aren’t well informed on the political process.
Freshman Jason Che is an international student from Japan. He had to jump over a few hurdles before successfully voting for the first time today.
Che: I’m an international student, but I’m an American citizen. I got the mailing ballot for the first time. I was always curious about what voting would be like. I didn’t even know that they didn’t like mail ballots. I always thought everybody had to go to booth like they had to go somewhere to vote.
Institutional barriers to voter registration and confusing absentee ballot applications deter many young people from heading to the polls. California allows for same-day voter registration, but many states require registration well in advance.
But Klause says she didn’t have any problems registering.
Klause: I think USC made it a little easier, because there’s a lot of opportunities to vote here and a lot of advertisements to be able to do that.
VoteSC works to educate students on voting timelines and answer questions on registration processes, but resources like that aren’t as accessible for youth outside the USC bubble.
Sophomore business administration major John Recendez registered to vote a few weeks ago at a VoteSC tabling event. He says he voted today because he owed someone a favor.
Recendez: One of the acts was like, funding for like, the mental health stuff. I didn’t know that was gonna be on there. So I just said, yeah. I feel like it’s a big problem in California.
Recendez is referring to Proposition 1, which would provide a $6.4 billion bond to revamp California’s mental health services and facilities.
Whatever gets you out to vote, whether it be social issues or a specific candidate, the polls are open till 8 p.m. PST tonight.