Young Adults are Unsure of Voting :2nd Presidential Debate and How Students Prepare for the Election

By Alexa Garrett Assistant News Editor

67 million viewers tuned in to watch one of the most jarring debates of the century: the 2nd 2024 presidential debate. The 2nd presidential debate held Sept 10 puzzled many viewers who had a candidate chosen for the upcoming election. ABC “World News Tonight” anchor and managing editor David Muir and ABC News anchor Lindsey Davis hosted the cut-throat debate. 

The Economist reports that pre-election polls have altered drastically from July, when President Joe Biden withdrew from the election, to the present–after the second presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.  Many false statements confused the general public, mostly young adults. 

Junior political science major Suada Purisic talks about her thoughts directly after the debate.

“Kamala Harris honestly, really did keep herself on a high horse during that debate. It gave a positive attitude to how she was portraying herself. She thinks we should be at the forefront of trying to make these new creations have a more sustainable future, and that’s something I strongly advocate for. I don’t think Trump was as prepared for this one. I think he could have done a little more preparation in response to the questions,” she said. 

ABC’s “World News Tonight” anchor and managing editor David Muir, stated that  Trump and Harris were “essentially tied in the polls nationally,” before the debate. Now, Harris has a slight lead. Polling averages in The Economist display that 50 percent of people intend to vote for Harris, and 46 percent intend to vote for Trump. 

Both candidates introduced factual anecdotes regarding plans to change and improve public policy, but there were also false statements made. Immigration was one of the primary topics discussed during the debate. Harris pointed out that she was in on a border security bill that Congress created and intended to pursue. The “bill would have put more resources to allow us to prosecute transnational criminal organizations for trafficking in guns, drugs, and human beings,” she exclaimed during the debate. 

Trump denounced this voicing that Harris wishes to allow more criminal immigrants into the country. He referenced the idea that towns do not want to stand forward about the immigration issue because they are “embarrassed” by it; following up with a comment about immigrants eating the pet cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. David Muir confirmed that there was no factual evidence on this matter presented by Trump. 

On economic-related issues, Harris claimed that Trump had left the country “with the worst unemployment rate since the Great Depression.” The unemployment rate was near 25 percent during the great depression according to Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library. The Congressional Research Center states that the unemployment rate rose to a historical high of 14.8 percent during Trump’s presidency, however, when Trump finished his term in office, the unemployment rate fell to only 6.4 percent.

Abortion is a wide-scale issue that has been debated. Trump asserted “you could do abortions in the seventh month, the eighth month, the ninth month, and probably after birth.” This was fact-checked by Davis and found to be incorrect as it is illegal to perform an abortion after birth. 

Harris attracts a younger audience. She’s pro-choice and believes that women should be able to make decisions about their bodies. 

Purisic thinks that the outcome of this debate will affect who students vote for. 

“‘It’s not going to affect me.’ That’s the mindset I’ve always heard whenever I speak to anyone regarding this. I do think a lot of college students aren’t interested in the President and what they’re going to be doing,” she explained.

Many students lack knowledge of each candidate’s policies; if students do not think that presidential power is relevant to their lives, they will not vote.

Why is voting important for young adults? Every vote counts. When you cast a vote, it shows that you are standing for a cause that will directly affect your way of life. Senior finance major Ailer Thomas thinks voting is fundamental, especially among college students. 

“I think it’s very important. I’m a senior, and the policies that are put in place starting in January, are going to greatly impact a lot of people’s abilities to get jobs,” he said.

The New York Times released a study on why young adults choose not to vote. Alexandria Symonds says that young adults suffer “an indirect opportunity cost to learning the process of voting, like finding a polling place and learning about the candidates.” Many students do not make the time to learn about where, when, why, and how to vote. 

How are young adults supposed to cast a vote if they do not even know who they are voting for? Educating yourself on the various policy plans that each president has, researching who is going to work in administration, and trying to understand how these policies put in place will affect society as a whole is important when debating whether or not to vote. 

Harvard Kennedy School states that “among 18-to-29-year-olds nationwide, more than half of young Americans say they will be voting in the Presidential election this Fall.” Purisic discusses the success of Harris engaging the youth with her use of social media advertising techniques. 

“After the second one, they have more of a positive attitude towards Kamala Harris and her social media team doing their job on Instagram; on TikTok. I think they are reaching out to the youth. They’re catering it a lot towards them, which is an amazing strategy,” she said.

The most biased political sources are by far the easiest to find. Finding unbiased content is possible though. Ad Fontes Media is a corporation that analyzes which news sources are the most reliable. One center-leaning source found at the top of the site’s interactive media bias chart is the Wall Street Journal. Thomas believes National Public Radio (NPR) is a credible source when researching political information. 

“I tend to feel that NPR is a relatively unbiased source. It tends to be a little bit left-leaning, but I feel like they tend to report mostly the facts,” he said. 

Purisic is also weary about which sources she chooses. 

“I personally really don’t like listening to CNN and Fox News, just because they cater towards one bias and one bias only, you will not see them advocating the other side,” she voiced.

If you are deciding on whether or not to vote in the 2024 election, consider all of the facts at hand behind each candidate before submitting your ballot.