For many students at Ole Miss, the 2016 presidential election will be the first time they are eligible to vote, but the window for registration is closing soon.
Most students turn 18 their freshman year, but four years ago, those with November or December birthdays were left out of the 2012 election by days, if not weeks. Voters must be citizens and have registered at the County Clerk’s Office by the state’s deadline. The deadline is Oct. 8 in Mississippi for in-person and mail registration.
“In the last presidential election, I turned 18 the day after the election, so I did not actually get to vote, but I made sure that as soon as the courthouse opened the next day, I went and registered,” Andy Shine, senior biology major, said.
For Shine, growing up in a military household, he views voting as a privilege.
“It is the duty of every American to participate in the democratic process,” Shine said.
Shine is from Meridian and has been following the 2016 presidential election since the start of the primaries. He was able to watch the debate and listen to both candidates’ views on many issues. He is also supporting GOP candidate Donald Trump.
“I just think that somebody needs to come make a change from the outside,” Shine said. “The political system, as well as Washington, has become ‘who can buy the most senators to make an effective policy.’ I feel Trump is an American and a self-made man who made his own way… Hillary has been in the system too long to be given that much power.”
For recently naturalized American citizen Viridiana Acosta, this upcoming election is very important to her as well as her faith.
“Some of the things in this election have been influenced by my faith,” Acosta said. “The Catholic church has a lot of teachings and believes that you should vote for a candidate that follows the teaching of the church in such a way, especially the social issues … For me, social issues are a big deal because the Catholic church has a stance on them, so voting for a candidate that is in line with these issues is very important to me.”
Acosta was born in a tiny village in Mexico but came to the states at a young age with her family because of her father’s construction job. She graduated from Tupelo High School and from Ole Miss, becoming the first person in her family to do so.
Two years ago, Acosta became a citizen of the United States. She works in Oxford at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church.
“I lived a big chunk of my life just hearing about the election but just thinking it was completely not in my control,” Acosta said. “Now that I can vote, it is kind of weird because I catch myself still in that mentality, but then I remember I can vote this time and I have a say in this.”
In the year 2014, according to the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services, 654,949 people were naturalized in the United States.
“It is important to me because both candidates have such strong stances on certain issues, because for me my faith is what guides me, so hopefully there will be a candidate that I will lean towards that will meet those demands,” Acosta said.
Acosta is torn between some of the views of each candidate but is very strong in her faith to the Catholic Church.
“Being Hispanic is also very important to me and is something that is hard just because there are certain things about one candidate and the way they feel toward Hispanics but the other candidate doesn’t. Then there are some views I lean more toward with the other so it is kind of torn,” Acosta said.
Although the only thing she can not do is be president of the United States, she is very excited to finally be an American citizen and to get out to the polls to cast her vote on Nov. 8.
Lynecia Christion, an African-American student from Memphis, Tennessee, will also vote in this upcoming election for the first time.
“The social problems and the racial profiling done by police officers and what the future president is going to do to try and change this issue is what is important to me because enough is enough,” Christion said. “All lives matter– don’t get me wrong, but it seems as if it is just directed toward the African-American community.”
Christion is still having a tough time deciding whom to vote for this election, even after the primaries and the first debate.
“I really don’t know who to vote for. I would like to vote for Hillary, but I am not so much on the woman thing. Yes, a female could do it, but I wonder if a female could really handle it and could she deal with problems without getting her feelings involved,” Christion said. “I am a woman and am very emotional at times. Women tend to be more emotionally attached to situations. But I am definitely not voting for Trump.”
Christion said many of her friends and family are still unsure, even after the debate, of whom they would like to see in the White House for the next four to eight years.
“No one really knows who to vote for because we want someone who can lead us and so far we have two children up on stage arguing,” Christion said. “During the debate they were just arguing why you should not vote for each other instead of giving reasons why you should vote for them.”
Haley Minatel is also a first-time voter who missed the age cutoff in the 2012 election by two weeks. She is student at Ole Miss from South Bend, Indiana, and is an avid Trump supporter.
“I am very worried about Hillary’s tax plans because that is going to take a lot of money out of our pay checks for the middle class and that’s not good. I think Trump knows how to create jobs and maintain the economy because he has done so with his own businesses,” Minatel said.
Minatel firmly believes Trump is a better candidate than Hillary and would like to see him in the White House for the next four years.
“I am voting for Trump because I feel like he is just the better candidate. Hillary just has so much wrong with her, starting with Benghazi, her husband’s scandal, the emails, her lies, just all of that,” Minatel said. “If Trump wins, I believe the economy will get back on track.”
“(Lester) Holt failed to ask Hillary about any of her major scandals and asked Trump a bunch of really tough questions about some of his controversies he has caused,” Minatel said.
Minatel said she wants to make sure female voters are aware of who they are voting for and not just voting for a candidate based on his or her sex but encouraged them to go with the better candidate.
“There are a lot of democratic females out there who don’t know about Clinton and choose to ignore the facts because they just want to have a woman in power in the White House,” Minatel said. “That seems to be the only factor females are focusing on and not who is an overall better candidate.”
