Sacramento State students shared their thoughts on voting, civic duty, and the importance of participation during Election Day.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
Sacramento State students on Wednesday shared their voting experiences and reasons for participating in the Nov. 3 midterm election after hundreds of students cast their ballots on campus.
“I think it’s beautiful. I really, really love it. A lot of people on campus, I heard them talking about how they’re going to get to the polls,” said Therese Namwezi, a Sacramento State senior.
On Tuesday, some students waited for hours to vote at the on-campus vote center.
Oliver Rojas Guzman, a Sacramento State student, said he voted downtown.
“Honestly, just to make a change. I feel like not enough people vote these days,” Guzman said. “I want to do it. I don’t want to be left out.”
Junior Kiana Cervantes said that while she personally voted by mail, it warmed her heart to see the long lines of voters at Sacramento State on Election Day.
“I just feel like it’s our duty as citizens. We should do our part to understand politics since we are citizens and we are part of this country. We should learn and be able to just use our voices.”
John-Mark Andreatta shared that he was out of the country in 2016 while serving in the Navy. He said he felt grateful to be able to vote with ease.
“I just had my ballot in hand. I prefilled it out, just walked into the center and dropped it off,” he said. “I think it’s just the civic duty to something that we were given the right to do. It just shows that people have a little bit more power than they realize.”
Students expressed optimism about young voter engagement and their belief that turnout will continue to grow.
“I believe everyone of age should vote,” Isabella Fogy said. “I think it’s really important. Every vote matters.”
A spokesperson for Sacramento State said the university had several recent voter engagement efforts, including Voter Education Week and Buzz to the Ballot, aimed at helping students get informed and connected to voting resources. The California Secretary of State’s Office also challenged campuses to get involved this election season.
A spokesperson for Sacramento County said that in the four days the on-campus vote center was activated, 1,242 people voted, with 675 voting conditionally and registering on site.
When the polls closed Tuesday at 8 p.m., more than 200 students were still in line to vote, the spokesperson said, adding the last voter cast their ballot around 11 p.m.
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