By Jonathan Santiago, Nov. 8, 2022
Cal Poly Pomona will host a voting center Nov. 8 at the Bronco Student Center in Ursa Minor from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. to allow students and faculty who live in LA County the opportunity to vote in this year’s midterm elections.
According to the New York Times, typically less than half of eligible college students vote in elections.
“It is important to pay attention to midterm elections as turnout is lower,” said David Speak, professor in the Political Science Department. “Elections are decided by the people who vote. That seems like a silly statement but in fact turnout is often the deciding factor in elections. It is important to pay attention to midterms because people don’t pay attention to midterms.”
According to Speak, the importance of these elections typically goes unnoticed as the media and public do not treat midterm elections with the same level of importance.
Some college students have their reasons as to why they do not participate in America’s election process.
“Because students are typically in their 20s, I do not think their votes particularly matter because they have their school lives to focus on,” said Winter Nöel, aerospace engineering student. “After they have graduated and had to experience more of life outside of school, that is when it really matters.”
According to the United States Census Bureau, nearly 155 million Americans casted their vote for the 2020 presidential election.
“College students for the most part are still within traditional college student ages, and that bracket of the population is grossly underrepresented,” said Speak. “If you start voting early, you’re going to stay a voter, and I really do believe that voting is a really important part of the structures that we got to keep the government responsive.”
California’s 2022 midterm ballot has important seats to fill from from the Senate to State Assembly and propositions about education, gambling, taxes and healthcare
On the California ballot, there is a Senator seat up for grabs. The race between Mark P. Meuser and Alex Padilla is for a Senator term that will last six years. Padilla is currently holding the Senate position vacated by Vice President Kamala Harris. Although Padilla is currently serving, he is still eligible to run for the other California senate seat.
Another very key component of these upcoming elections are the propositions. The passing of these propositions directly impacts the state and its population.
There are seven measures that qualified for the ballot. These propositions range from legalizing sports betting to boosting the funding of art and music classes in schools.
The fight for the legalization of sports betting has taken California by storm. A record-breaking $451 million has been spent on propositions 26 and 27. These two propositions would legalize sports gambling in the state through different methods.
Proposition 26 seeks to legalize sports betting in California but only at tribal casinos and racetracks. This would mean that select locations have the exclusivity of sports betting in the state. An estimated $125 million has been spent in favor of this proposition and $41.7 million against.
Proposition 27 seeks to legalize online sports betting across California online sportsbooks. such as Draftkings and Fanduel are trying to enter California’s big money market. If this proposition were to pass, sports betting could be accessed from any device. An estimated $150 million has been spent in favor of this proposition and $230 million against.
Kyle Brown, the administrative coordinator for CPP’s Male Success Initiatives, shared his thoughts on propositions 26 and 27. “For me, that’s a vote no on both of them. Prop 27 claims to be about supporting tribal sovereignty and supporting homelessness, it’s not.”
Voters can participate either in person at their assigned polling station on Nov. 8 or completed via mail. Mailed ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 8 and received by the local county’s elections office by Nov. 15 at latest.
Feature image courtesy of Mirah Curzer
