The Spartan Vote

College students face many choices in an average day, from whether or not to attend class to which foods to eat in the cafeteria. However, with an election coming up, students now must make a decision that could affect more than just their lives at SJSU.

In recent elections, the emphasis for young adults to vote is an issue that has come to the forefront. With this, candidates have realized the importance of gaining support from the younger demographics through ads on websites, celebrity support or trying to get messages straight to their target audiences. With all of this, college students today can become bombarded with conflicting messages about candidates. So, what are the main issues that are important to younger people today?

Speaking with a few college students about what they looked for in a candidate, it seems that some students have chosen to examine a candidate’s record rather than their media prowess.

“I want my candidate to pay more than just lip service. I want them to be able to stand on their own record and not stand on an attack of someone else's,” said senior Quinten Boyd. “I want them to be recognizant of all of the nation's problems and not just the hot-button issues. A lot of elections seem to be about one or two issues while the same problems continue to plague our country.”

Though candidates are using more modern media outlets to try and gain popularity, the younger generation still cares a lot more about what they each have to offer rather than a candidate having the backing of a popular artist or actor.

“I look for a candidate that has good leadership skills, values and some sort of morality might be nice,” said junior Sarah Barret. “I look for someone who actually listens to the public and makes good changes in our world.”

As young people pay closer attention to what is going on in the world, certain topics are becoming more important to the younger generation. According to The Washington Post, topics such as abortion and the economy would be the hot topics for the current election. “…Forty percent said that they might consider changing their vote over abortion policy, but that it would depend on a candidate's views on other issues.” Although abortion seemed to be an important issue to young people, topics such as the economy ranked highest with 67 percent of the respondents.

While it may have once been appropriate to think that the youth of the nation didn't keep track of campaign issues, many college students are taking the time and effort to make informed decisions in elections. Some may even consider it a more important decision than going to class on that sunny day.