Why some California youth didn’t feel ready to cast a ballot

Catrice Schmidt, 18
Senior at Norte Vista High School

Now of age, Catrice Schmidt has decided to fully take advantage of her right to vote.

As a first time voter, she said there is much for her to learn and understand about the political process. Her motivation to vote was to back a president who will support her education and the environment, which to her isn’t just a “hippie” thing.

​​”There’s a lot of destruction that we’ve done to the earth and I think that making efforts as a country to reduce this is something that we should all find important,” Schmidt said.

Now that she can vote, she finds it important to begin taking note of the world around her. However, she doesn’t feel she’s been as informed as she could’ve been. Despite that, Schmidt said she was encouraged by her Global Citizen class teacher Amanda Bush to involve herself with the political process of voting.

Regardless of the election outcome, Schmidt said that “the act of voting is a gift because some countries don’t have that – the ability to choose who is in power over them.”

Rosalio Gomez Jr, 18
Senior at Norte Vista High School

Turning 18 in the midst of an election that had many divided, Rosalio Gomez Jr. made the decision to not vote.

Rosalio said he would’ve been more persuaded to vote had he seen more environmental propositions on his ballot or more appeals to fund schools. Leaning a bit towards the Green Party, he noticed the lack of advertising for his own political views.

​​”I didn’t see enough ads for the Green party; it was mainly just the Democrats and Republicans,” said Gomez.

“The views I liked about the Green Party were that they were more about the planet than views on finance,” he added. “They’re more about protecting animals, protecting plants, and helping with global warming.” 

He shares that he was raised in a home where politics were never encouraged as an area of interest. In his home, “you pretty much just vote for whoever you want.”

Kevin Vang, 18
First year at Fresno State University

Although contrary to popular belief, there are youths who don’t show much excitement for this election. Kevin Vang, a first year at Fresno State University, is one example of this. 

“I am currently not voting because I am not too sure, or… [don’t have] too much knowledge on the political aspects,” he said.

Although most students take a government class in high school, there isn’t much incentive in caring about it for many students. Most take it just to graduate but only some fully understand what is being taught and want to continue to learn about it. This could also be a reason why it isn’t mentioned within family conversations at home, as is the case with Vang.

“I feel like talking about politics in my household has not really affected me, nor will it in the future,” Vang said. “I’d rather say that if I were to vote, it would be more about what I think and what I’d say instead of what other people think…”

Valerie Zuniga, 17
Senior at Sunnyside High School

Although she isn’t able to vote quite yet, Valerie Zuniga has long educated herself on American politics, looking forward to the election and what may unfold.

“I base my political beliefs on what I see in the media… and I do profound research on it,” said Zuniga. “I look at sources that are the most unbiased as they can be.”

Zuniga also gave insight as to whether or not minors should be allowed to vote, seeing as how she herself is 17.

“It’s not about can they vote earlier,” she said, “it’s about how do we educate them and how do we show them the importance of voting early on?”

At the end of the day, Valerie said, “it’s about who really cares about voting.”