American Government teacher Aaron Vandenburgh says he was surprised when he polled his fifth period class on Oct. 24 and found that the majority of his students thought Trump should be the 47th president of the United States (15 in favor of Trump, 11 in favor of Harris). When Vandenburgh polled his students just prior to the 2016 election (Donald Trump vs. Hilary Clinton), he says only two students thought Trump should win the election.
The Tribe Tribune polled 119 of Fullerton’s 431 seniors to see if Vandenburgh’s class was representative of the senior class. The Tribune invited all seniors to participate, but received only 27% valid responses.
Overall, the majority favors Harris, with around 50% saying that they want her to win. 29% said they hoped Trump will win and 21% said they were unsure.
80% of students enrolled in Honors English said they prefer Harris. Students enrolled in ERWC were more divided in their opinions with 38% favoring Trump, 35% favoring Harris, and 27% unsure.
What’s interesting is that of the seniors who chose to complete the survey, a total of 80% expressed interest in voting, even though only 27% of seniors bothered to fill out the survey in the first place. This makes it hard to gauge voting apathy among seniors. Did the remaining 73% not fill out the survey because they’re uninterested in voting? Did those who filled out the survey only fill it out because they were interested in voting?
In any case, social science teacher Rob Ryan has been trying to combat political apathy among his students by encouraging his students to pre-register for the opportunity to vote. Ryan brings pre-registration forms to class and hands them out to those who want them.
“It is my duty as a government teacher to make sure that students who are approaching the age where they are eligible to vote can do that,” Ryan said.
Ryan believes that voting is an obligation for those who can, saying he would never reject the opportunity to vote. “It is too important for me to have my voice heard and to be able to participate in the democracy we have.”
To potential voters who may be pessimistic about voting, thinking that their vote doesn’t count as much, Ryan offers the example of Florida in the election of 2000.
“537 votes made the difference between Gore becoming president or Bush. How many people are out there saying, ‘Oh my vote doesn’t count’? Probably more than 537.”
In California, residents as young as 16 are eligible to pre-register to vote, so long as they are U.S. citizens and have no prior criminal record. Once they turn 18, the pre-registration form will automatically register the residents to vote. Residents can fill out a form at their local DMV or online at the California Voter Registration website.
