By MELISSA SANDOVAL
Staff Reporter
With the 2020 election just a few days away, students at Amarillo College are debating whether or not they should vote.
“Sometimes it’s not clear why people should vote,” said Aaron Faver, a government professor at AC. “Maybe people don’t realize that the policies in Washington affect everyone and that the policies locally affect everyone.”
Faver also said that sometimes people have a lot going on and that they might feel like they don’t have enough time to go out and vote.
“I believe it’s almost pointless to vote,” said Andrew Rivero, a business administration major. “Voting is defined as a method for a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, in order to make a collective decision or express an opinion usually following discussions, debates or electoral campaigns.”
Rivero said that although people partake in the process of electoral voting, their votes and opinions are set to be seen as being put to the side. “Seeing this and being made to feel this way, a lot of people consider voting pointless and believe it’s always going to come down to the higher ups and their opinions,” he said.
Isela Varela, a psychology major, said that most people don’t vote because they either don’t care or don’t realize just how important it is.
“Voting is more important than people think,” said Varela. “When we vote, we vote for our president, chairmen, congress and more. We sculpt America through the people we decide to put in office.”
Faver said that like 2016, this election has been tough and that he believes that it has nothing to do with the candidates but more with how the country has been reacting as a whole.
“On one hand, I agree with the idea that people just disagree. It’s just the bottom line and it’s apart of life but it’s how we disagree that matters,” said Faver.
Rivero said that in the end, voting comes down to everyone’s own beliefs in whether their opinions and ideas are truly being heard and being taken into consideration or if they are just being cast aside.
“I would say that the interests that you have in your personal life and in your public life are all affected by who you vote for,” said Faver. “And whether you have a say in it or not they’re going to have influence over it and so it’s better to have a voice than to not.”
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