What you need to know about the upcoming election
Thumbnail courtesy of Comic Editor Madison Brunn
Voting is your most important civic duty. Please go out and VOTE!
For most students on this campus, it will be our first opportunity to vote in a presidential election this coming November. Regardless of your political stance, it is important to have your voice heard and vote in this election. As of September 2024, five presidential candidates are running for the White House. We are seeing candidates from the Democratic, Republican, Independent, Green, and the Libertarian political parties. It is vital that you know not only who is running as a presidential candidate but also the policies they each focus on.
Vice President Kamala Harris is the Democratic nominee. Her Vice Presidential candidate is Tim Walz. Harris and Walz’s key policy issues include providing tax credits to middle and working-class families, banning price gouging on food and groceries, and continuing to work on a two-state solution to the genocide in Gaza. Former President Donald Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance, the Republican candidates, wish to pick up where the Trump administration left off after his first failed reelection campaign. Their policies include that Trump wants to finish building the wall between the US and Mexico, remove all undocumented immigrants from within the US borders, close the Department of Education, and send all education rights back into the hands of the states.
Despite popular rhetoric, though, the Democratic and Republican nominees are not the only options for voters. Although they are less popular and sometimes go unrecognized, third-party candidates are also running for the upcoming election if your ideas do not align with Harris-Walz or Trump-Vance tickets.
Other presidential candidates, such as Cornel West, who is running under the Independent Party, have policies that differ slightly from those of the Democratic and Republican nominees. West wants to focus on fighting for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, enact free health care for all US residents, and discontinue oil and gas leasing projects on federal lands. Chase Oliver is running under the Libertarian Party. Oliver wants to find a pathway to citizenship for immigrants, withdraw the US from all foreign conflicts, federally decriminalize marijuana, and is committed to pardoning all non-violent drug offenders. Jill Stein is the current Green Party nominee. Stein aims to abolish all student debt, raise taxes on wealthy and giant corporations, cut military spending, and ban all forms of fracking. If these policies seem to be more aligned with your own, then you should learn more about these third-party candidates using your online resources.
Whether you decide to vote for a third-party candidate or not, make sure you vote for something you believe in—even if it may not be the most popular vote. To make the decision you feel is right for you, it is strongly recommended that you take the time to do more in-depth and independent research on these candidates and their policies. Even if you are not educated on other candidates’ policies, it is important to understand the difference between them and what policies are trying to provide to the American people.
If you are not registered to vote, do not panic—there is still time. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 26, 2024. You have the option to register to vote online, by mail, or in person at a local election office. You can also stop by the MacVittie College Union (MCU) in rooms Union 316 and Union 353 to register through the campus. There will also be tables in the MCU lobby with more information. Additionally, students who live in Buffalo, NYC, Binghamton, etc., and may not have the time to go home to vote can request an absentee ballot by mail and return the ballot in person. For those of you who live in NYS and would like to register online, please go to https://my.ny.gov/LoginV4/login.xhtml.