by Nathan Farrell
Many call the 2020 election, “the most important election in our lifetime.”
Voter turnout could reach the highest rate in more than a century, according to USA Today.
More than 257 million people in the U.S. are 18 or older and 240 million citizens are eligible to vote this election. Estimates show 150 million people may turn out to vote this year, according to USA Today.
Statistics show 97 million people have already cast their ballot for the election, almost twice as many who voted early in 2016, and more than two-thirds of total votes that same year, according to The New York Times. With the election Nov. 3, this number is expected to grow.
Despite these record numbers, between 35 and 60 % of eligible voters do not cast a ballot in any given election, according to MIT’s election data and science lab.
Taylor Uleman, a 28-year-old fast food worker in Omaha, said he will not vote. Uleman has never registered to vote and does not plan on it.
“I don’t believe in the current American government system,” Uleman said. “So, if I don’t believe in it, there is no reason for me to participate in it.”
The Electoral College has determined the presidency two times during Uleman’s lifetime, George W. Bush in 2000, and Donald J. Trump in 2016. Voting and people opinion’s do not matter if the system and the electorate decides the outcome of U.S. elections, Uleman said.
Socialized medicine, medical marijuana, and the war on drugs are the issues Uleman considers most important. However, with so much money and backdoor deals going on in politics, it is hard to take candidates with big ideas at face value, Uleman said.
“This is what this guy says about foreign policy so I should go vote for him,” Uleman said, hypothetically. “But that guy has his own political agenda himself, and unless you 100 % trust that person, they have their own personal spin on it.”
Uleman’s view stems from what he calls; “a lack of knowledge on politics.” Two-thirds of Americans feel worn out by the amount of news these days, according a study by the Pew Research Center conducted in February 2020.
This leads to information overload and many tend to ignore specific politics because of it. One can only learn a politician’s true motive if you fully read through their plans but it is impossible to do so because it is so complex and overbearing, Uleman said.
Although this kills motivation for people to vote altogether, a lack of knowledge impacts those who choose to do so as well. Many people are indecisive because of it. said
Dr. Randall Adkins, associate dean of the political science department and professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
“As you go down the ticket, you find that voters don’t know as much about the candidates or the issues because they’re not as frequently in the news,” Adkins said. “In fact, there is often significant ‘drop off’ on ballots overall.”
Adkins said most voters already have their minds made up about which candidate they prefer at the top of the ticket. Some may choose not to like either candidate.
Xavier Rewolinski, 21, an Omaha carpet cleaner, said he also has decided not to vote in the 2020 election because of his disdain for both Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
“I don’t like any of the candidates,” Rewolinski said. “They’re all currently stuck in the now of, ‘This person’s bad. No, this person’s bad,’ instead of what we’re actually going to do as a country.”
Not only are Biden and Trump too focused on attacking each other than discussing policies, but the Democratic and Republican parties are as well, Rewolinski said.
Rewolinski said he wants a selfless, younger, and loyal American to lead the nation, and he feels both candidates are none of these things.
Rewolinski, who registered as non-partisan, said he felt the same way about Hillary Clinton and Trump in the 2016 election. Not liking either candidate, he decided to vote for Libertarian Gary Johnson, a decision that he regrets.
“I did not like the feeling that I was settling for a candidate,” Rewolinski said. “I want to vote for someone that I can get behind.”
Both political parties look for strategies to get more people to vote.
Adkins said two factors make people more likely to vote; a profound difference between candidates, or to get the psychological reward of doing their civic duty.
“Unfortunately, that benefit is being outweighed by the unlikely possibility of being the ‘pivotal’ vote in an election, and the costs of going to vote,” Adkins said.
Rewolinski is open to voting in the future but would like to see the two-party system in America end.
“The Democrats and Republicans are more focused on fighting each other rather than helping the American people,” Rewolinski said. “We need to come together.”
Uleman said he was close to voting in the primaries for Bernie Sanders, but Sanders dropped out before he had the chance.
“Bernie Sanders has been out campaigning ever since he’s been a teenager,” Uleman said. “He’s constantly been about human rights, trying to get people help, and things that I personally would like to see get done with our country.”
Because of Uleman’s disdain for politicians associated with backdoor money, he enjoyed Sander’s grassroots campaign that was built through his supporters rather than Super PACs. However, the political system is still corrupt, Uleman said, and he feels that the United States needs to make drastic changes.
“The system is so broken, and the foundation is so weak and crumbling, anything that is built on top of it is waiting to fall,” Uleman said. “The fall of every single civilization throughout history is the exact same, and we are heading on a collision course for that.”
