Young voters in Beaufort, Jasper counties go to the polls. They have a lot on their minds
David Chacon wants to elect leaders who will unify a divided country. Kate Anderson wants to choose leaders with the best plans for tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. And Jack Cimino wants to pick leaders who share his concern about climate change.
All three are 18 and voting for the first time in this year’s general election. The Bluffton High School seniors have already expressed their passion for politics as participants in Youth in Government, a YMCA program administered by local groups that allows teens to create model governments and serve as delegates at statewide conferences. The Bluffton High chapter is run by social studies teacher Erin Reichert as a class.
But before high school, Chacon said, he did not care very much about politics.
“I felt like it was kind of far away from me, it didn’t really impact me,” he said. “But then, especially working with some of those guys in Youth in Government on local campaigns, you kind of start to realize it’s a lot more relevant and present to you than it may seem, and the decisions that are being made actually do impact you now and down the road. It’s pretty important to be involved in.”
Chacon, Anderson and Cimino are among millions of voters across the country who will go to the polls for the first time this year. While they’re a bit nervous, all said they feel excited.
In Beaufort County, 9,381 registered voters are between the ages of 18 and 24, representing 6.7% of all registered voters in the county. In the 2016 general election, only 3,581 registered voters in Beaufort County were between the ages of 18 and 24, representing 3.2% of all registered voters in the county.
Although the percentage is small, young voters could still have significant sway in close elections, including the 1st Congressional District race between Nancy Mace, a Republican, and incumbent Rep. Joe Cunningham, a Democrat; the Senate race between Jaime Harrison, a Democrat, and incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican; and the presidential race.
In Jasper County, 1,769 registered voters are between 18 and 24 and represent roughly 8% of all registered voters in the county. In 2016, only 772 registered voters were between the ages of 18 and 24, making up 4.3% of all registered voters in the county.
As of Thursday evening, 49,237 total absentee ballots had been cast in Beaufort County. In Jasper County, 6,531 absentee ballots had been cast. Data on age distribution for absentee voting is not currently available on South Carolina Election Commission’s website.
Out to the polls
Alondra Carrion, who graduated from Bluffton High School in May, cast an absentee ballot Wednesday at Bluffton Recreation Center. She said her parents always told her to vote for who she thought was the right choice — and so she came out to do just that.
“A lot of older people come out here and vote, and then a lot of the older people tell us that we’re not supposed to be voting because we’re too young to be understanding politics,” Carrion said. “But it’s your right to vote, and ... if you have that right, you should just come out here and vote.”
That same day, Cassidy Mannel, 23, and Taylor Beggan, 24, arrived at Bluffton Rec to vote. Beggan drove from Columbia to vote in Beaufort County, where she is registered. She said she did not want to squander an opportunity to have a voice in this election.
“I didn’t vote in the last election,” Beggan said. “I definitely could have, because I am 24, but I didn’t. And going into that, I knew that if I don’t vote, I can’t complain about what happens. This year, there is definitely a much larger turnout of younger voters.”
Mannel agreed and said young people should be less defensive and instead try to educate themselves about relevant issues.
“We can’t be lazy, we can’t just sit on our phones and preach about this,” Mannel said. “We actually have to get out there and do something.”
The challenge is getting young people to come out. That’s been the goal of Hilton Head MLK Committee for Justice’s president, Galen Miller, and civic action subcommittee chair Michael Lewis.
“We want to eliminate the tension that exists between parties and just stress the importance of voting,” Lewis said. Our role has been to join with other nonpartisan organizations … to make sure that young people understand the importance of voting, because if you don’t vote, you don’t count. And if you do vote, you do count.”
Last Saturday, the MLK Committee collaborated with the Bluffton MLK Observance Committee, Black Voters Matter and The Links, Incorporated, for a “Be Woke! Vote! Youth Rally” to encourage young people to vote.
One of those who spoke was Jasper County voter Mahogani Freeman, 26.
“Whenever you think that, ‘Oh, I don’t vote because my voice doesn’t matter,’ that also takes away the responsibility of doing your own research,” Freeman said. A lot of people “are scared of doing their own research because it takes work.”
Freeman cast an absentee ballot on Tuesday. She said she has spent this year learning more about politics.
“If you don’t know a lot about politics, that’s OK, don’t make that stop you from knowing more,” she said. “I think we’ve taken the term ‘ignorant’ and made it a bad thing, but I’ve learned this year that being ignorant about something gives you the opportunity to learn more about something.”
Galen Miller’s daughter, Bella, 16, also spoke. A junior at May River High School, Bella can’t vote yet, but the aspiring journalist has cultivated an interest in politics through attending research institutes in the summer and being involved in her school’s Youth in Government program.
“Decisions made by politicians have a major impact on all of us, our friends, our parents, our communities, and our world,” she said at the rally. “At the end of the day, politics is about people — how safe they are, what opportunities they have, how their health is protected, how financially secure they are, what rights they have. All of these issues have humanity at their core.”
Miller said it was a shame that young voters did not turn out more in the last election, given the perspective they bring to politics.
“Politicians have a very large bearing on who is affected by what, and we have to be holding local politicians and larger government politicians accountable,” she said, “because they are the ones who are affecting our own neighbors.”
On the issues
Each young voter listed different reasons for turning out to the polls and different issues they were passionate about.
For Lawson Mansell, 23, a Beaufort native and policy content manager with Columbia-based conservative think tank Palmetto Promise Institute, the most important issue is education.
“When I think about South Carolina locally, we for years and years, are at the bottom of the country in terms of educational outcomes, and it is disproportionately affecting low-income and people of color,” he said. “It’s a huge factor in terms of determining someone’s outcome in life.”
So he wants to vote for candidates that share this priority.
“When I’m looking at candidates, I’m saying, who is thinking outside the box in education, who is actually producing solutions that are dynamic and creative,” Mansell said. “That’s kind of where my mind’s at, and I would encourage others to vote the same way.”
Kate Anderson, one of Bluffton High’s Youth in Government students and a former YIG secretary of state for South Carolina, is hoping to get a degree in architecture and civil engineering. She is concerned about climate change in cities and how buildings can help reduce energy use.
Several said their top issue is racial injustice, citing the Black Lives Matter movement, which has gained momentum over the last several months through nationwide protests in response to the killings of Black people by police.
“It’s always been important, and I feel like it’s just now being highlighted,” Alondra Carrion said. “That’s one of the main issues that’s my problem right now because it affects me personally.”
Cassidy Mannel said Black Lives Matter was top of mind for her.
“I just don’t understand why race, gender, religion and all of that stuff has to make people treat you differently,” Mannel said. “We’re all humans. We all have a soul. We’re all here on this earth together. ... I’m trying to fight for better.”
This story was originally published October 30, 2020 at 10:43 AM.
