There are less than two weeks until the election, and some students at Ball State are getting out to vote early or are planning to vote on Election Day Nov 8.
Millennials account for around 25.5 percent of those age-eligible to vote today, but less than half of young people overall are registered to vote, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And although the number of millennials voting in presidential elections dropped in 2012, this year, some polls are suggesting the millennial vote could be a defining factor in the 2016 presidential election.
But even though the presidential race is arguably the most popular election in the country, there are still students who are choosing not to vote.
Tristen McLean, a sophomore physics and exercise science major, said he isn’t voting because he doesn’t know much about the candidates.
“Honestly, I don’t know too much about either of the candidates and I just hear that neither of them are that favorable for the nation as a whole,” McLean said. "So that’s the main reason why I’m not going to [vote]."
McLean also said he hasn’t been too interested in learning about the candidates and voting because he is "so focused on school."
“I think it’s OK [not to vote]," he said. "It's people’s choice to do so or not to, and everybody has a right to both of those options, so I’m just using my right not to.”
Also busy with schoolwork, sophomore meteorology major Sean Curran said he isn’t voting because he hasn’t had the time to look enough into any of the candidate’s policies.
“If I don’t know the policies and which [ones] I believe would fit best, then I think it would be fine to not vote," Curran said.
However, Curran said he doesn’t agree with people who vote "just because their family supports that candidate."
“Sending in a blind vote is kind of against what I believe,” Curran said. "You should be informed."
Maggie Mayer, a freshman undecided major, said she has things she doesn’t like about both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Mayer said she doesn’t care for the third-party candidates, either.
“[Trump] is racist and sexist and he’s not the kind of person I would want anyone to look up to as the ideal person,” Mayer said. “[Clinton] seems to act like she can do no wrong and that she’s the ideal person and that makes me mad.”
Mayer also said she is “extremely disappointed” in the choices for the candidates and said she may not vote because of the "limited options."
After hearing about the recent presidential debates and finding that she wasn't impressed with the candidates, Gabby Gervasio, a junior music education major, said she isn’t voting in this election because the candidates are "not appealing."
“I haven’t put that much thought into it since the debates," she said. “They come out and they talk about all these things that they want to do and the things they have done, but then it’s questionable on how much they will actually make a change."
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