In the weeks leading up to election day, visiting politicians and volunteering students urged Keene State College students to vote on Nov. 4 and it seems their efforts paid off.
The KSC Democrats had a tent set up with coffee, cupcakes and candy, as well as voting information for students and Keene community members.
Volunteers also drove shuttles to bring people to and from the different polling places around Keene.
KSC Senior Matt Derrickson was one of the volunteers at the tent helping people find their polling place and he said the shuttles ran nonstop all day.
Tim Smith/ Equinox Staff
“I think it’s been pretty successful, we’re getting numbers from one polling place out of five and we’ve already had hundreds,” Derrickson said.
He also said more students voted in this years election than in the 2012 elections. Derrickson added that the cupcakes definitely help get students attention.
Many KSC students voted to make their voices heard. KSC Senior Sarah Thomas said she filled out an absentee ballot for her home state of Maine. Thomas said she voted because it is important to elect politicians who are going to work for the youth.
“All of the policies that are passed right now are going to affect us for the rest of our lives and basically, I feel like if you have an opinion, you should vote, because otherwise your opinion doesn’t really matter,” Thomas said, “It’s annoying to me when people complain about what’s going on in politics and then you ask them if they vote and they say no.”
Another senior, Scott Dyer, said he likes having the right to vote because it is one of the easiest ways to get involved and have a say in the government.
“All you have to do is get a little background knowledge about the candidates and then show up and vote. It’s that easy,” Dyer said, “But the two-party system is a problem because in many cases people have to choose between the lesser of two evils.”
Some students had specific issues that pushed them towards certain candidates, like KSC Junior Shannon Duffy. Duffy said she voted for Jeanne Shaheen because she believes in equal pay for women, which Shaheen is a proponent for. She also said she thinks it’s important for students to make their voices heard.
“I think if a majority of the students here voted, we could make a big difference in elections,” Duffy said.
KSC Senior Alexandra Manigault said she voted for Shaheen because of her support for equal pay and a woman’s right to choose, but also because she was not backed by big corporations like Scott Brown.
“Jeanne Shaheen has been serving New Hampshire since the nineties,” Manigault said, “Scott Brown just came up here because he got booted out of Massachusetts.”
New Hampshire elections swung in favor of the Democrats, with only one Republican, Frank Guinta, beating out Carol Shea-Porter (D) for the District I House of Representatives seat.
Annie Kuster (D) won by a large margin over Republican Marilinda Garcia (R) for the District II House of Representatives seat and incumbent Jeanne Shaheen (D) narrowly beat Scott Brown (R). Finally, Governor Maggie Hassan (D) retained her seat over Walt Havenstein (R).
Jesse Reynolds can be contacted at jreynolds@keene-equinox.com
