Bloomington High School North is hosting a voter registration drive for students eligible to vote in light of the upcoming local elections, which includes the District 9 congressional seat, on September 26-30. The drive will be hosted in the library during first, second, third, and fourth periods in hopes of getting students registered, as, according to census.gov, one in every four eighteen to twenty-four year-olds are not registered to vote; and within my interviews, no interviewees were registered.
While interviewees Sydney Alwine and Leah Brown, both 18, said they plan to vote, both said didn’t have sufficient information about the possible candidates. These two are certainly not the only BHSN students uninformed about their candidates and equally uninformed about their role in democracy. Former teacher at North, Matthew Fyfe, is the Democrat candidate for congress district 09-IN, the district that BHSN, and likely most students reside in. Fyfe won the primary elections in May with 11,938 votes, almost twice the votes that his runner-up received. He is a leader in the local teacher’s union and a strong advocate for public education. His priorities include environmental conservation and veteran support, among many others.
Chamberbloomington.org stated, “[H]e strives for every student who walks into his classroom to succeed — to know that with effort and positive encouragement we can reach our goals and build a stronger community.”
His opponent is Republican District 9 candidate Erin Houchin, winning the primaries with a 21,463 votes, over 6,000 more than her runner up. According to ballotpedia.org, Houchin earned her bachelor’s degree in the heart of District 9 at Indiana University before moving on to get her master’s degree in Political Management from George Washington University. Previously, she represented District 47 after she was elected in 2014 where she participated in numerous committees, as a member of the Senate Committees on Commerce & Technology, Elections, Homeland Security, Family & Children, and Military. Her previous legislation and support in policies have proven her to be against tax increases and open borders, and a second-amendment and law enforcement supporter. Her extensive experience and past endeavors with Senate many have claimed is what propelled her to her primary election success.
With all of these free, effortless resources to inform yourself and register, some students still do not vote. But why? Alwine believes that voting reinforces democracy, and gives people the ability to voice their opinions for their future selves. She stated, “It is very important to stay in touch with what you want your future to look like and you can very much do that through voting.”
Senior Ella Sokeland claimed that voting allows people to voice their opinions, highlighting that voting gives minorities a place to use their voice. Sokeland said, “voting is especially important within our local communities because these local elections directly affect us and how we live our lives in our town.”
Sokeland is one of the volunteers working the voter registration drive and she encourages you to “come do your part, and come register.”