Student voters show indifference, enthusiasm about elections

November elections are around the corner.  Officials are working hard to assemble voting machines. Candidates are taking their messages to the streets to gain last-minute support. But not all students on UK’s campus are feeling enthusiastic about the opportunity visit the polls.
Some students, in fact, say they aren’t planning to vote at all in next week’s elections. Katie Hastings, a junior at UK, lives in Lexington, but is registered to vote in her hometown of Danville, Ky. Hastings called the process of requesting an absentee ballot “annoying,” and said she didn’t have time to take part in it this year.
Katie Baskett, another junior, also won’t be taking part in Tuesday’s statewide elections, which will decide Kentucky’s next governor and attorney general. Baskett says she made the decision not to vote because she doesn’t feel capable of making an informed choice.
“I wish I knew more about what was going on,” said Baskett. “I feel uninformed, so I don’t know how these elections will impact me. That’s why I’m choosing not to vote.”
These feelings support what officials are predicting about this year’s races. Last week, Kentucky’s Secretary of State Elaine Walker said she thought this year’s voter turnout would be significantly lower than elections held in 2007, the last time Kentucky elected a governor. She based this estimate on the fact that requests for absentee ballots had dropped considerably.
Other students, however, seem to contradict this notion. Some, like Jenna Day, a sophomore from Louisville, are excited to let their voices be heard.  Day says she’ll have to go back to Louisville, where she’s registered, to take part in elections. She says that, even though this makes voting more difficult for her than the average voter, she still values the opportunity. Day disagrees with some students’ sentiments that next week’s outcomes don’t pertain to them.
“Even though I’m a student, I’m not always going to be a student. This is the age where you should start to think about the world around you and how those in office will impact you.”