Some teachers describe the 2020 presidential election as a big event coming up and as the debates between candidates continue, Antioch Community High School Social Studies teachers prepare students through classes and explanations in class.
On November 19, 2019, ACHS will be hosting voting registration to students who will be 18 before November 3, 2020. This will allow those students who will be eligible to register to vote in the upcoming election.
Many students are looking forward to registering to vote for the 2020 election. Two of Antioch’s juniors gave some insight on why they want to register.
“I’m registering because I’ll be the right age and it’s one of my rights to vote,” junior Ty McGuire said. “I want to support my civic duty.”
Registering to vote does not mean a student is required to vote but if a student decides to it will speed up the process were they to go on and vote. Junior Emily Lewis feels it’s important to do as a citizen in America.
“I’ve always been told that it’s my civic duty to vote when I´m able to,” Lewis said. “Exercising my right to vote as well as it is just the right thing to do as some women back in the day didn’t have the privilege.”
Social studies teacher Aleksandra Jarosz finds that being educated on the nominees and how they correlate to their own beliefs. She also argues that students should vote for their own beliefs and not specifically the political party.
“I think it’s beneficial for students to vote because ultimately they’re voting for someone that’s going to implement the policies that they want to see put into place,” Jarosz said. “I mean we encourage students to vote, not for the political party but for a candidate that is most reflective of their beliefs and principles.”
According to Pew Research Center 33 percent of the Illinois population are Republicans, 48 percent are Democrats and 19 percent identify as independent. Jarosz believes that voting for one of these parties should be solely dependent on the person.
As long as someone is of age and is a U.S. citizen they are allowed to vote but there are a couple people at ACHS that think they should partake in voting as well.
