Turning 18 can open you to many opportunities, especially for voting. Most of-age students need to become more familiar with what the primary elections are really about. Virginia’s 2024 presidential primary was held on Tuesday, March 5. Virginia is one of 15 states engaging in Super Tuesday when the highest number of states will hold primary elections the same day. The Primary elections allow voters to determine which candidates compete in the general election. Virginia state law provides for open primary elections, meaning that a voter doesn’t have to be registered with a party in advance to participate in its primary. Winners in Virginia primary elections are determined via plurality vote, meaning that the candidate with the highest number of votes wins even if he or she did not win an outright majority of votes.
Virginia held its Democratic and Republican Primary on March 5, 2024 The Republican nominees are, Ryan Binkley, Nikki Haley, Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, Ron D. DeSantis, and Chris Christie. The democratic nominees are, Joe Biden, Dean Phillps, and Marianne Williamson. According to Spectrum News, After record youth turnout in the 2020 elections, fewer Americans ages 18 to 29 plan to vote in 2024 in part due to widespread dissatisfaction with both President Joe Biden and his likely challenger former President Donald Trump, according to a new poll of young people by Harvard’s Institute of Politics.
“I think that it has less to do with whether or not people are interested, I think it has to do with the choices people are given I do think a lot of people especially in this generation can relate to Donald Trump or Joe Biden and I think that given those options that’s why the number is so low¨,” said Senior, Christian Jordan.
Some students may not feel the need to vote because they may feel that their vote doesn’t matter. Some may say that one vote can change an outcome in the polls. Many local elections are mostly decided by individual voter turnout. Some people may not vote because the candidate that they’re mostly interested in, has an opinion on an issue that you don’t necessarily agree with, But that shouldn’t discourage you from voting for the right candidate that you think will change the world. Some people do not participate in voting because their schedules clash.
“I think peoples’ vote matters but I think it matters less than people make it out to matter because I think no matter who you vote for, the policy will be the same thing regardless of who is making it,” said senior, Reed Dodson.
