Students look toward an uncertain future while factoring in the past four years.
Students at Humboldt State University took the steps to cast their ballots in the 2020 presidential election.
For some, like Alejandra Sanchez, it was the first election she could vote in. Sanchez, a criminology major, was not optimistic about what a second term for President Trump would mean.
“Being a woman and being brown, four more years…four more years would not be the best for me,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez felt especially disappointed in the Democratic party candidates. She believed the Democratic party could have done better.
“In my eyes, we were settling for Biden,” Sanchez said. “It’s just like horrible and slightly less horrible, either way you vote it’s not that great. I’m sure there will be little differences that do help.”
The 2020 election painted Biden as a candidate voters settled for, or defensively voted for in strong dissent of a reelection.
Maia Nguyen, a wildlife major, believed Biden is not the strongest or most ideal Democratic party candidate. In comparison to Trump, Biden offers more promising initiatives like environmental advocacy.
“We definitely settled for him as democrats, but I would feel better with him as a president,” said Nguyen. “Someone who takes clean energy and the environment more seriously than Trump does.”
While Nguyen was not old enough to vote in 2016, she made sure to cast her vote early for the 2020 election. Nguyen emphasized how the past presidential term has been difficult to witness.
“As a wildlife major, it meant a lot of disappointment overall,” Nguyen said. “You can see terrible things happening and people not listening to scientists. Just a disappointment overall, I would say.”
On the subject of the 2020 election, Nguyen looked at how future presidents would affect her fields of study. She mentioned the discrediting effects a less science focused presidency could bring.
“Honestly, I’ve been thinking about that a lot, and I would say that it would be harder in my field,” said Nguyen. “Our funding comes from government funding so if we had pushback, my work would be affected, and a lot of pushback for us because people wouldn’t want to work with scientists.”
Tayler Reedy, a child development major, voted in 2016 but felt a personal need to vote in the 2020 election and defend communities Trump harms.
“Well for me personally, with everything that Trump has done with immigration and everything he has said, as someone who is a bisexual woman and person of color it’s a little scary to see how he treated everyone in those categories,” Reedy said.
Reedy echoed the overarching assumption that a vote for Biden was simply a defensive vote against a Trump reelection.
“I feel like Biden is more accepting of people like that. He’s not my favorite,” Reedy said. “I was more about Elizabeth Warren at the time, but I feel like he’ll do a better job than Trump.”
California polls close at 8 p.m., with the state historically leaning Democratic. While initial election results may be called on Nov. 3, the New York Times states that approximately nine of the 50 states will have final results in by noon the day after the election.
