With polls closing this evening, the 2024 election comes to a conclusion. Aside from the immense gravity of deciding a new president of the United States, and a wide slate of other political issues, today is the culmination of months, if not years of anticipation for first-time voters.
A few of Lawrence High seniors are among this group of young adults, some having turned eighteen mere weeks before Election Day. The legal right to vote can be a hefty responsibility, but LHS students took it in stride and stepped up to the plate this election season.
Senior Thomas Sikes voted for the first time today, waking up earlier to secure a place at the polls before school. His initial nerves around casting his ballot were quelled by the sense of community support he received.
“In this particular election, I think I’m very anticipatory about the result. I think in general that it’s really important, and this is the first year that I’ve been able to, so I was really excited,” Sikes said. “I had been nervous about it, but…everyone there was really excited to see me and to have me. So it was really great.”
Prepping for the election was a major task for first-timers, from registering to vote to researching the candidates and policies on which they would be voting.
“There are a lot of local news outlets that released election guides and I looked over those,” Sikes said. “I wanted to make sure I was really thorough and that I knew what I was doing.”
English teacher Carrington Porter also emphasized the importance of in-depth research before voting.
“Looking at the sample ballot helps because then you see some of the measures that are going to be on there and some of the people that are running, and then that helps you research them and their policies and their reputations and things like that to make sure that you’re voting for people that align the most with your interests and your beliefs,” Porter said.
Some students have been contemplating how they will cast their votes for much longer than this election season. After being a member of the LHS Young Democrats club for several years, senior Sylvia Oparaji was anxious to get out there. Oparaji was one of the students who voted early, casting her ballot on October 28th.
“I felt like I was actually making a direct impact on the government because before I was been able to kind of like just observe and try to advocate but now that I’m voting I feel like I’m making a bigger difference,” Oparaji said.
Senior Celeste Stinson shared this enthusiasm, viewing the opportunity to vote as a way to vocalize her beliefs more than she was previously able.
”I felt really empowered. This is a really important election, and I just turned 18, so it just kind of felt like the perfect time,” Stinson said.
