The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: biden

  • What you need to know about voting in the primaries

    What you need to know about voting in the primaries

    by Carlina Grillo

    This year marks a milestone for some Cal Poly Humboldt students: their first time voting in a presidential election. Besides potential presidential candidates, the ballot will include important propositions, like Proposition 1, a state-wide measure regarding funding within the mental health system.

    Polls open for California’s Presidential Primary Election on March 5 and vote-by-mail ballots have already begun mailing out. To participate in any election, voters must be registered in their state. In California, that means registering no later than 15 days beforehand.

    In order to vote in the primaries, the last day to register is Feb. 20. As a California resident, voting registration can be filed online at registertovote.ca.gov or by mail. 

    Paper applications can be found at County Registration Offices, Department of Motor Vehicles, public libraries, government offices and select post offices. Paperwork should be sent to the mailing address: Secretary of State Elections Division 1500 11th Street, 5th Floor Sacramento, CA 95814.

    If registered with a political party, that party’s political candidates will show up on the ballot. To update party affiliations, a new registration form will need to be submitted. 

    16 and 17-year-olds are eligible to pre-register to vote and will automatically be registered upon turning 18. 

    Alongside the new wave of voters across the nation is a new wave of Humboldt County residents. To vote locally, or in the case of an address change, an updated registration form must be completed. Luckily, the process is quick and easy. 

    For more information visit the Cal Poly Humboldt legal lounge website for voting (studentlegallounge.humboldt.edu/voting) or call (800) 345-VOTE (8683). 

  • Students speak honestly on voting in 2020 the elections

    Students speak honestly on voting in 2020 the elections

    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.

  • Biden’s Recent Slip-up is Not His First

    Biden’s Recent Slip-up is Not His First

    The South Carolina gaffe is only his most recent in a series of slip-ups

    In a speech given in South Carolina Feb. 24, Joe Biden asked for support in his campaign—but he may have forgotten what exactly he was campaigning for.

    “My name is Joe Biden, I’m a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate,” Biden said, a Democratic candidate for the United States presidency.

    This, however, was not the first time that Biden has slipped-up on the campaign trail. During the Nov. 20 Democratic debate in Atlanta, Georgia, The Guardian reported Biden said he was supported by the only African American woman to be elected to the Senate, Carol Moseley Braun.

    “We have this notion that if you’re poor, you cannot do it. Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.”

    Joe Biden

    Senator Kamala Harris, who was on stage with him, had to chime in and remind him she was also an African American woman elected to the Senate.

    One of his most glaring slip-ups was during a town hall meeting in Iowa hosted by the Asian and Latino Coalition. According to a New York Times article, Biden was talking about education and challenging students.

    “We should challenge students in these schools to have advanced placement programs in these schools,” Biden said. “We have this notion that if you’re poor, you cannot do it. Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.”

    He did attempt to amend his statement when he continued.

    “Wealthy kids, black kids, Asian kids, no, I really mean it,” Biden said.

    This isn’t the only gaffe that puts into question his views on race. On June 18, 2019, during a fundraiser event in New York, Biden recounted his time in the Senate in the 70s. Specifically, working with Mississippi Senator James Eastland and Georgia Senator Herman Talmadge, two senators who opposed civil rights and desegregation, according to CNN. He was comparing the Senate from that period to the Senate today.

    The big question regarding this most recent slip-up is whether or not it will affect his poll numbers that currently have him sitting in second place behind Bernie Sanders.

    “At least there was some civility. We got things done. We didn’t agree on much of anything. We got things done. We got it finished,” Biden said. “But today, you look at the other side and you’re the enemy. Not the opposition, the enemy. We don’t talk to each other anymore.”

    Kamala Harris spoke out again against Biden.

    “To coddle the reputations of segregationists, of people who, if they had their way, I would literally not be standing here as a member of the United States Senate, is, I think it’s just, it’s misinformed,” Harris said.

    Even before this election cycle, Biden has made questionable remarks regarding race. According to an article by CNN, when he started his 2008 presidential race, he referred to Barack Obama in a way that drew scrutiny from many people.

    “I mean, you got the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” Biden said during an interview with the New York Observer.

    The big question regarding this most recent slip-up is whether or not it will affect his poll numbers that currently have him sitting in second place behind Bernie Sanders.