Students in swing states reflect on 2024 elections

Swing-state voters are part of a group that has significant potential to influence the outcome of the upcoming presidential election, according to political scientists cited by the publication. Associated Press.

A swing state is a state in which the Electoral College votes can be won by a narrow margin by either the Democratic or Republican candidate. US Voting Foundation. In a tense presidential race, the importance of these states becomes more critical.

The current freshman represents 47 different states, according to the data. Loyola Undergraduate Admissions Page.

Neighboring Midwestern states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin are part of what is sometimes called the “Blue Wall,” and each is a key swing state in this election. These states narrowly supported Trump in the 2016 election but were carried by Biden in 2020. AP reported.

Third-year anthropology student Andy Breslin of Pennsylvania said they voted in a non-presidential election two years ago, but did not initially plan to vote in this presidential election. However, Breslin said their parents emphasized the importance of Pennsylvania’s role in the presidential election and convinced them to vote.

“There is a big gap between wealthy, educated urban voters and rural communities,” Breslin said. “Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are the largest population centers and are most likely to vote blue, but typically most other counties in the center of the state will vote red.”

Breslin said they found the absentee voting process in Pennsylvania to be simple.

“It was pretty easy to sign up,” Breslin said. “All I had to do was fill out a few forms and send them to my county office.”

The voting process varies from state to state, which impacts the absentee voting experience differently.

Third-year psychology and anthropology student Julia Armstrong, who has previously called local politicians, said she needed a witness to cast an absentee ballot in Wisconsin.

“My roommate watched me vote, sign the ballot, and then track it until it was delivered,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong described the process as simple, but said she was caught off guard by the language of the Wisconsin Citizenship Vote Requirement Amendment, which would change the language to say only U.S. citizens can vote, rather than to say every citizen can vote.

“I had to read it a couple times,” Armstrong said. “They use double negatives and tricky language to influence people one way or another.”

Armstrong said misunderstandings due to unclear language are troubling and could affect important decisions this election season. She said it was important for young people to read their ballots carefully to avoid mistakes.

“Honestly, I think this will be the most important time I’ll ever vote,” Armstrong said. “We are literally deciding what kind of future we are going to after we graduate.”

Armstrong’s phone banking was aimed at reaching undecided voters in rural and suburban areas of Wisconsin, where the dairy industry attracts many farmers and immigrants. She said she values ​​connecting with her community, where political discourse is increasingly unfiltered.

“The idea that we are now such a big swing state and a critical part of the election is cool,” Armstrong said. “Things seem to be changing in my generation.”

Paige Getzenberger, a third-year economics student, said she found voting fun and nerve-wracking, in part because of the heightened stakes of both the national election and those in her native Arizona. She said the number of referendums meant it took her several hours to fill out her ballot.

“I had to do the research,” Getzenberger said. “I spent a lot of time researching different proposals, reading the documents themselves, and studying all the politicians that were also on the ballot.”

Arizona Ballot Included 13 offersthe largest number of referendums among the seven swing states. Proposition 139 seeks to guarantee abortion rights in the state constitution, which Getzenberger said underscores the importance of abortion as an issue following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

“There was a very big question in Arizona about whether we would go back to this policy,” Getzenberger said. “Planned Parenthood companies didn’t know what they could and couldn’t do, so they didn’t really act for a while.”

Arizona’s political landscape is often divisive, with rural and urban populations holding different views, Getzenberger said. However, she also said she sees increasing diversity in local politics, including greater representation of marginalized groups.

“One thing I’ve noticed is an increase in diversity in who is running for local office, which I think is having a big effect,” Getzenberger said. “I hope marginalized groups feel more represented in government, and I hope that trend continues in the future.”

Second-year forensic science student Brenna Utrup of Twinsburg, Ohio, described the simple voting process. She registered online, picked up her ballot at the Loyola post office, followed the instructions to fill it out and mailed it back to her county.

Although Ohio has been known for its swing state status for more than a century, the state lost that status after casting its electoral votes for former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. AP reported. Up until 2020, the state had voted for every winning presidential candidate throughout its history and had produced more U.S. presidents than any other state.

Uthrup said this change in Ohio’s voting status has affected her views on voting.

“When Ohio was considered a swing state, I felt like I had more hope that my vote would make a difference,” Utrup said. “To be honest, I was the first one in my dorm to vote this year because the state went red.”

Gretchen Rojewski, who worked in Michigan as a poll worker while in high school, said she believes Michigan’s swing state status is largely due to the influence of auto and auto workers, whom many politicians prioritize in their votes. campaigns.

Rojewski, who grew up in a swing state, said she hears so much from all sides of the political spectrum that it’s hard to narrow the election down to two very different people.

“I don’t want anyone to tell me that I hate the two-party system,” Rojewski said. “But I think it’s hard to try to combine all of my opinions, feelings, beliefs, etc. into one candidate.”

Getzenberger said she was concerned about the messy environment after the election, regardless of the outcome. Utrup and Armstrong echoed those sentiments and emphasized the importance of young people voting because it raises awareness of vital local issues for people across state lines.