LOS ANGELES - In the heart of the University of Southern California’s Wallis Annenberg Hall Forum, a crowd gathered to watch the California primary election live on the multi-screen wall. Attendees listened to a panel of experts give their thoughts on current political trends and what the results will mean for Americans as the 2024 November Presidential election approaches.
The panel, moderated by USC’s Annenberg Media Center Director and Professor of Professional Practice of Journalism Christina Bellantoni, featured eight experts in political science and public affairs. The casual and interactive event aimed to provide students with expert political analysis as polling results rolled in throughout the night.
While the event was a great opportunity for students to understand the political and electoral atmosphere that academics are watching closely, the room was not that full throughout the night.
Guests for the panel were prominent journalists with expertise in politics, elections, public affairs and humanities. Among them was Kamy Akhavan, the Executive Director for the Center for Political Future and current professor who was previously CEO of ProCon.org for 14 years and USC Communication and political science professor Tom Hollihan. The panelists shared their thoughts on voter turnout, trends and voting patterns and campaign strategies.
One of the biggest thoughts on everyones’ minds was the surprisingly low voter turnout rate seen throughout the election night and the role of young voters. Throughout the night the message was clear: more people need to show up to the polls.
Much of the panel expressed the uniqueness of the turnout. Award winning political journalist and senior fellow at USC’s Annenberg Center for Communication Leadership and Policy Jessica Yellin said, “Lower turnout in California is happening, we’ve seen lower voting rates now than during the midterms.”
Akhavan stressed the need for younger generations to show up and make their voices heard urging,”Gen Z if you want to show up and make an impact in an election, this is the time to do it.”
Danielle Cendejas, a partner at The Strategy Group, explained what lower voter turnout means for this election and election night in November. “Control of power and ideology is on the line,” she said.
Akhavan added that the margins between results meant that third-party candidates may hold more importance than in years before.
When it comes to how the votes will split between candidates within parties, Yellin said, “A lot of Nikki Haley voters are saying they will not vote for Trump or Biden in November.”
The low turnout has become a major concern for all parties involved as it seems to indicate a shift in the public’s opinion and feelings towards voting. The extent to which voters vote is a reflection of the current political times.
Eric Schmeltzer, President of Winning Progressive, his independent public relations firm, says, “When I see polling now, I tend to see it as a snapshot of time.”
As Bellantoni put it, this lack of interest creates a circular pattern with no clear result.
“If everyone just shrugs and thinks ‘I’ve seen this before and I’m not going to show up’ then nothing changes,” Bellantoni said, “the lack of turnout is leaving operatives worried not just for who ends up winning but also for engagement, part of the whole issue is you want people to be engaged. You want an electorate that has people thinking about who their leaders are and how they can get engaged.”
There is also the idea of political exhaustion among the public.
Jane Coaston, a fellow at USC and a writer for the New York Times, said, “I think that in some ways, you’ve seen exhaustion from the American electorate and you see that in people’s interest in news going down…I think that what we’re seeing right now is an electorate that is just tired of literally everyone involved in politics, tired of the concept of politics.”
Coaston also references Biden’s 2020 campaign strategy of allowing voters to not think too much about him in day to day life. “If you elect me, you can forget about me,” says Coaston about the promise of the Joe Biden election,”It was one of his biggest appeals.”
Bellantoni shared the discrepancies between student opinions on campus and results at the polls.
“The majority of them did it [vote] at the Village… not one voted for Adam Schiff, so it tells me that these two candidates are not representative of all of you and what your votes are.”
At the end of the night there was a clear consensus that the lack of voter participation and political interest of students and Americans poses a real threat for November elections and the future of politics nationwide.