Voters between the ages of 18 and 29 were expected to stay home on Nov. 6. Instead, they showed up to the polls in larger numbers than 2008. With 60 percent of the vote, Barack Obama was their clear choice. The Crow’s Nest interviewed students who watched the numbers come in at the University Student Center on Election Day to find out who they voted for and why.
For 18-year-old biology major Carl Broughton, this election was personal.
He just watched a friend complete the long process to become an American citizen. Many of the hoops she had to jump through were unnecessary, he thought. He thought Obama’s plans to fix the system sounded fair.
“I want anybody who comes to this country to have the opportunities that I had,” Broughton said.
He thought Obama also seemed to care more about college students, a reason he believed USFSP was “generally for Obama.”
“I’m excited for it to be over,” said first-time voter Gabrielle Mitchell, her bag strap adorned with “Votemos Todos,” “Women for Obama,” and “You never forget your first time” buttons.
“I was really nervous but really excited,” the 18-year-old political science major said about voting. She cast her vote the day before in Dade City
“Honestly, I’m excited it’s over,” she said as she waited for the votes to come in, glad tension built during the long campaign season was about to break. “I can have friends again.”
She’d been watching the news coverage all day, and would continue through the night, she said.
When the local Obama campaign asked 19-year-old criminology major Alex Johnson if he wanted a lift to vote early, he thought, “Yeah, why not?” They drove him to the Supervisor of Elections office, where he updated his registration to Pinellas County and cast his vote.
It went to Obama.
As an Air Force reservist, Johnson found many of his buddies were voting for Romney. They liked his promise to increase the defense budget, but Johnson couldn’t understand why.
“I just couldn’t justify it in my head,” he said.
Johnson said his voting experience was “pretty cool,” but wished the ballots were worded better. He spent a half hour reviewing the amendments and ended up using truth tables—a logic-based mathematical table he learned in class—to figure them out.
Teral Hilliard’s grandmother voted for the very first time in 2008.
“It’s time for an African-American president,” the 18-year-old mass communication major remembers her saying as she beamed with pride.
This year, as a first-time voter, Hilliard didn’t side with his grandmother. After a lot of thought, and some agonizing conclusions, he voted for third-party candidate Gary Johnson.“For the longest time I was supporting Mitt Romney, but he wasn’t lining up to my political views,” he said. “I came to the conclusion that the Republican Party was not my party.”
While Hilliard has always felt the Democratic Party was for giving more power to government, he only recently decided that the Republican Party cared more about corporations than the to American citizens.“It’s not necessarily the party it used to be, the party for the common people,” he said.
Hilliard said he hopes students take the time after this election to examine the major parties and their ideals and see if they match up to what they actually do.
As a registered independent, Jonathan Boyd, a 19-year-old international business major, had no idea who he would vote for up until a few months ago. That’s when he went to an Obama rally at St. Petersburg College.
He came away decided.
“This country was in a bad spot when Obama was first elected,” Boyd said. “More than anything I think he should have another opportunity to fix it.”
Boyd listed the economy and unemployment as the issues he was concerned most about, adding Obama was “the perfect person to motivate people.”
“But change comes slow,” he said.
Voting in his native Hillsborough County on Election Day, Boyd stood in line for longer than he expected, but came away feeling good about the process.
“I felt like I actually had a voice,” he said.
“I say let’s go up to Canada. That’s what I say at this point,” said 21-year-old Phil Pitarresi as he watched CNN tally the votes on election night.
Pitarresi, a management major, comes from a family with conservative values. They taught him to appreciate fiscal conservatism, and the idea states should have more power than the federal government.
So the clear choice for his first presidential election was Mitt Romney.
Pitarresi was particularly unhappy about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known colloquially as Obamacare, as he believes it is unconstitutional to make people purchase health care from a third-party provider. A small majority of Florida residents disagreed, as Amendment 1, which would have banned such a mandate, failed 52-48.
A series of unfortunate events kept 18-year-old Cynthia Wyre from voting this year. But had she voted, it probably wouldn’t have been for Barack Obama or Mitt Romney.
“I don’t like either of them,” said Wyre, a biology major. “The only thing I know about them is the trash they talk about each other.”
She had planned to take the short trip to Hillsborough County to vote, so she turned down an absentee ballot when someone offered. But on Election Day, Wyre couldn’t find a ride.
“Now I don’t have a say about what goes on so I can’t complain,” she said.
The most striking thing about voting for the first time was not the candidates, nor the lines, said 18-year-old marketing major Logan Kelly.
“It was just cool to feel like you’re part of the country and electing your leader,” he said. “It felt like being a citizen.”
Kelly found the process to be easy, even though he went at a peak hour and forgot his card. He was in and out in 35 minutes, hampered only by the 12 confusingly worded amendments on Florida’s ballot.
“I’d rather have them more clear cut,” he said.
Kelly voted for Romney this year, though not because of any particular stance or policy.
“I just thought he was the better choice,” he said.
Photos by Christopher Guinn
