Hampton Students Make Their Voices Heard at the Polls

Christian Thomas | Script Photojournalist

Hampton University students made sure to make their voices heard as they braced the frigid temperatures to carry out their civic duty on Election Day, Nov. 2. The shuttle picked up students at the university’s Student Center at the top of every hour, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and drove them to the nearest polling station at Phoebus High School.

While the inclement weather deterred many potential voters, others stayed to exercise their right to vote and remain active members of their community.

“It’s always important to vote when you can,” third-year HU journalism major Nicholas Lewis said.

Lewis mentioned that he kept up with current events by reading from multiple news sources to come to an informed decision on who he believed would make the best candidate.

Lewis thinks politicians must possess integrity, trustworthiness and an excellent moral compass to be a great candidate. This election was not Lewis’ first as he has remained an active voter since 2018.

Alexis Young, a first-year political science student at Hampton, believes gubernatorial elections are crucial.

In Virginia, Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin defeated Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe to become the commonwealth’s next governor.

“Since Virginia is a swing state, a lot of people including myself think that the state determines how other, more important elections will turn out, as well as a good way to tell how the political climate is changing in the country,” Young said. “By voting, I wanted to send the country a message about how I feel with the political and social climate.”

“I decided [who to vote for] by looking at news articles and my local news stations. Also, I kept up with how others felt and what direction the election was going in.”

Young mentioned that she believes a candidate who values mistreated communities, improves Virginia’s social climate and is honest and fair with their supporters determines whom she will vote for. This was Young’s first time voting.

“I haven’t been keeping up with the election as much as I would like to, but I have been keeping up a bit,” said Angela Darden, a second-year HU cybersecurity student.

Darden believes a great candidate should always strive to achieve equality for all and keep the world’s best interest at heart when making decisions.