With the 2024 presidential election less than three weeks away, many UVM students are preparing to cast their votes—some for the very first time.
A pair of Cynic reporters visited the Andrew Harris Commons last week to canvass their fellow students on what the upcoming election means to them.
Ciara Sylvestre is a first-year student planning to vote for the very first time next month.
The 17-year-old Vermont resident is coming of age just weeks before election day, and she said her vote hinges on the candidates’ plans to address poverty in the United States.
“As someone who comes from a low-income family, I like when they address the issue of poverty and do things to help that,” Sylvestre said. “That definitely influences who I’m going to vote for.”
First-year Liam Atkins said although he thinks it’s important to vote, he does not plan on voting in the 2024 election.
“I’m not super educated on the candidates,” he said. “I have a lot of things to do at the moment, as a first-year and a college student, and putting a bunch of time into knowing which candidate to vote for doesn’t seem like a great use of my time right now.”
Patrick Hale, a first-year, is concerned about what this election will mean for federally funded public programs.
“I think social security—and all of the services that [enforce] like public education, healthcare, welfare—they’re all incredibly impacted by this election,” he said.
The economy is on the ballot too. Sophomore Emily Cutler said her decision is largely based on the economic policy of the respective presidential candidates regarding the national debt.
“I’m kind of looking at the different plans between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump,” she said. “Like, how will their plans for running this country increase or decrease that debt and by how much?”
For nine months out of the year, UVM is home to students from across a diverse range of states, according to the University’s 2024 Admitted Student Profile. Some students say they are voting in their home states via absentee ballot this election.
Senior Katie Mathison, a Vermont resident, said she has already completed the voting process, and has sent in her early voter absentee ballot.
“I got a mail-in ballot, already voted and already sent it,” Mathison said. “I try to be a little proactive.”
Sophomore Sarah Koegler said she plans to vote in her home state of Georgia via mail-in ballot, but has encountered difficulties in the process.
“I actually still haven’t gotten my ballot,” she said. “The website’s a little confusing.”
Koegler said she signed up to receive updates from the Georgia Secretary of State’s website when she requested her absentee ballot. She has yet to receive the updates or her ballot, she said.
“I’m kind of praying it went through,” she said.
First-year Sawyer Barile said he thinks it’s important for students to participate in the election.
“We’re a younger generation,” he said. “We hold incredibly important values that need to be expressed, and the future is in younger generations.”
The Ward 8 polling location is the Fletcher Free Library, located at 235 College St., according to the City of Burlington’s website.
Students can find more information on voting in their home state using TurboVote, an online tool that helps students register to vote, check their voter registration and request a mail-in ballot, according to an Oct. 7 Cynic article.
