Let’s be honest with ourselves. Individuals may set out to leave a profound effect on the world, but only a select handful of people have the power to do so.
No matter what that effect happens to be, positive or negative, the rest of us are forced to live with the consequences of another person’s decisions and actions.
Generation Z showed the power of our collective efforts in the 2020 presidential election, when we contributed to the 159.8 million Americans who cast their votes, according to a CNBC article published on Nov. 18, 2020.
If you have the privilege to vote, we strongly urge you to join the millions of voters across the nation and exercise your right to influence this year’s presidential election results.
There are many things beyond our control in this world, but your voice has the power to lay the foundation for a better future. In this special election edition of the Spartan Daily, our goal is to inform you and give you the tools you need to be an educated voter.
Vote like your life depends on it, because it does
It feels like whenever an election year rolls around, the question of “Who is fit to be president of the United States President?” never seems to be answered.
Voters are forced to choose between two outof-touch old white men to decide the future of millions of individuals.
After the election of former President Barack Obama and the 2016 presidential race between former President Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, it seemed like people were ready for change.
America had its first Black president, Obama, in 2008 and then potentially the opportunity to have its first woman president, Clinton.
However, that all came crashing down in the 2016 election results when we were yet again saddled with an old white man who touted his extreme beliefs.
One of these examples was when Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 27, 2017 that banned individuals, predominantly from Muslim countries, from visiting the U.S. for 90 days, according to an American Civil Liberties Union timeline. In 2020, we were stuck a second time deciding
between which old white man would help us turn the tide of what we were experiencing four years prior.
Unfortunately, the world’s issues took a back seat to the devastation of COVID19 and once again, our nation was forced to choose between two white male presidential candidates to pull the country out of chaos.
age group whether its our accessibility to information, the influence from external entities or the belief that our vote does not matter.
At the end of each election, we are the ones who will be impacted the most by this decision and we have to live with it for the next few decades regardless of which path we choose as a country.
the best fit to serve as the president in this election.
Ultimately, young voters, especially those of us here at San José State University, have the power to change the trajectory of our political landscape.
Change can be seen through the recent increase of young voters making their way to the polls.
In the 2022 U.S. elections, voter turnout among young adult voters was the second highest for a midterm election, according to a Nov. 10, 2022 NPR article.
I have major anxiety about what will happen on Nov. 5, and what our future will look like. My hope is that we will have a president that cares enough to change things for the better.
You do not want to look back at this historic moment and regret anything, so do yourself the favor and get off your ass and vote.
Historically young adults have not been the majority at the polls.
In the 2016 election, only 39% of individuals between the ages of 18 and 29 cast their votes, according to an April 29, 2021 Circle article.
Many things affect and influence this particular
For example, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was intended to outlaw discriminatory voting practices, according to a document from the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
We all have our views about which candidate is
We’re not here to sway your vote or to tell you who is best fit for office because that is up to you.
Our job at the Spartan Daily is to make sure our readers have all the information they need to make their own decisions.
In this issue of the Spartan Daily, we hope that our readers walk away feeling inspired, informed and prepared to cast their vote.
You do not want to look back at this historic moment and regret anything, so do yourself the favor and get off your ass and vote.
It’s going to be close but Kamala will win, assuming the Republicans don’t commit voter fraud.
Politicians shouldn’t have a say in the decisions women make about our own bodies and reproductive health.
The election feels a like third wave of déjà vu with an extra of sense upcoming impending doom.
I’m not going to stand aside and hope the election results will benefit my home in California, I’m going to make my voice heard and vote.
We cannot create effective political change in a hostile environment.
GRAPHIC BY CHRISTINE TRAN
MEET THE EDITORS
Students face barriers at the polls
By Charity Spicer STAFF WRITER
Voting in the presidential election as a young person is a priority for only some in California, a primarily “blue” or Democratleaning state.
Four years ago, in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, young voters under the age of 30 made up just 15% of all voters in the 2020 election, according to a June 30, 2021 article from the Pew Research Center.
Dat Ngo, a fourth-year digital media art student, said he is not as involved in the election this year because he doesn’t have accurate information readily available or a convincing argument from either candidate.
“I feel like there’s a sense of bias in the media right now,” Ngo said. “So let’s say if it’s CNN, they lean towards the Democratic side. If it was for Fox (News), it’s the Republican
its the side I don't know w ho I shou ld trust.”
On ly 7% of Americans h ave a “great deal” of trust an d con f id ence in t h e me d ia as of 2022, accord ing to a Oct. 18, 2022 article f rom Ga llup
according to its website.
The group has multiple branches on different high school and college campuses and aims to encourage civic engagement, freedom of speech and promotes traditional values and “American exceptionalism,” according to the same source.
San José State’s Turning Point USA chapter hosted a game night of “Who Said It?” on Oct. 23 to discuss what political candidates stand for in the upcoming election, according to an Oct. 22 Instagram post.
BridgeSJSU, a club on campus and a chapter of the national organization BridgeUSA, is a multipartisan non profit student organization centralized on providing a forum for viewpoint diversity, constructive dialogue and “solution-oriented politics,” according to its website.
BridgeSJSU hosts events like Bridge the Bay, a student-led event
a studentled event ta k ing pl ace at Stan ford University, in addition to ot her socia l activities li ke movie nig hts and deb ate watc h parties, accord ing to Stan f or d Democrac y Hub.
attempting to educate students on local and national politics, and holding spaces for dialogue, the majority of SJSU students don’t care about politics.
someone because they believe in that, or hating someone because they’re voting for that person,” Obasi said.
He said the majority of students at SJSU believe
Public Affairs and Civic Engagement (IPACE), according to its website.
SJSU had a 34.6% voting rate by 2022, an 11.2% decrease from 2018, according to a June 2024
Whenever anyone sees a TikTok of people having political debates, they think that politics is all about arguing and hating someone because they believe in that, or hating someone because they’re voting for that person.
Somto Obasi Second-year management information systems student
strategies more than ever before, as seen on Vice President Kamala Harris’s official rapid response campaign page on X, Kamala HQ.
Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate of this year’s election, geared her campaign towards attracting young voters through recent trends like Charli xcx’s “BRAT” album and Internet memes on social media like on its Instagram account.
Obasi said he assisted in hosting the Campus Housing Voter workshop with the SJSU Votes and the Residence Hall Association on October 17.
“Whenever anyone sees a TikTok of people having political debates, they think that politics is all
that their vote doesn’t matter in the election.
At the workshop, students learned how to register to vote, how to fill out their ballot and other important details regarding voting.
The Residence Hall Association also provided free boba and
report from The National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement.
think that is all ab out arguing an d h ating
Ngo sai d in d ep en d ent j ournalism is the main media source that hetrusts as a young adult, and the main issues that concern him are houselessness in San José and affordable housing.
Out of a ll cit ies in t he United States, San José h as the fourth hi g hest unhoused population currently, according to a June 28 NBC Bay Area article.
Turnin g Point USA i s a conservative g rassroots activist
ne tw or k th at was founded by C harlie Ki rk i n 201 2,
Somto O b asi, secon dye ar man ag ement i nformation s y stems student, said despite these or g anizations
In comparison to other institutions, SJSU’s voting rate is around 4% higher than all institutions on average, but still a lower rate than previous years, according to the same report.
Obasi said a significant portion of students at SJSU are tied to a political party or know exactly where they stand on issues, but the majority of students stay away from politics because of the age gap and a variety of other issues.
However, her Republican opponent, former president Donald Trump, has also attracted a significant following of young men through his conservative values, according to an Oct. 18 article from the New York Times. Around 53% to 40% of young men lean Republican. Luis Mendoza, a thirdyear studio practice student, said as an undecided voter, he is waiting until the last two weeks to vote in the presidential election because he doesn’t have time to commit to retrieving information on candidates.
“I, most of the time, go home or go to work right after class,” Mendoza said. “Because I don't have time to go explore the campus much. I gotta go straight off to work. I got a fulltime job.”
answered any questions students had about the election.
boba a nswered any s tudents a bout S JSU o r g anization r e g isterin g s t ud ents vo te a nd g ettin g i nvolved w ith ci
SJSU Votes is a nonpartisan organization focused on registering students to vote and getting involved with civics under the Institute for
“I think a very big example of that (older people dominating politics) was the whole situation with Roe v. Wade,” Obasi said. “They all have a very different mindset going into a lot of things. Everyone that they’re trying to support is at a completely different age range.”
At the beginning of the 117th Congress in 2021, the average age of House members was 58.4 years and Senators averaged at 64.3-years-old, according to a webpage from the Library of Congress.
In this election cycle of 2024, political candidates have utilized trendy and tech-savvy marketing
About 75% of students also commute to school during the semester, according to the most recent SJSU Associated Students Transportation Survey of 2023.
“Just getting everyone informed … Everyone needs to come together to make a whole change, because not one single person is going to make that change,” Mendoza said. “That’s the issue, it’s one perspective.”
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CHARITY SPICER | SPARTAN DAILY
A student from San José State University stands in front of Dwight Bentel Hall and by the Victory Salute Statue wearing an “I Voted” sticker from Santa Clara County.
GRAPHIC BY ALINA TA
Propositions affecting college students
analytics student, explains why this proposition can be beneficial.
and Community College Facilities. Legislative Statute.
Proposition 2 could potentially impact college students planning to attend community college.
This proposition would issue $10 billion in bonds for repairing and constructing new learning facilities according to the California Voter Information Guide website.
Of those bonds $1.5 billion will be going towards community college facilities, according to the same guide.
Bonds allow governments and corporations to obtain a steady flow of income. Purchasing a bond is like a loan to those who issue it, where they agree to pay back the loan within a specific time frame with interest, according to a Vanguard web page.
Selina Lee, a third-year justice studies student, said she is worried about the bond aspect of this proposition.
“I’ve just started to be a little independent from my parents. I just don’t know how this bond would reflect on the taxes for someone like me,” Lee said.
Voting “Yes” for this proposition would allow the state of California to build or renovate community colleges, according to the California Voter Information Guide website.
The money would be distributed through matching grants which would pay a majority of the cost for school districts with limited resources, according to an Oct. 13, CBS8 article.
Jacob Barger, a third-year business
“It could make school more welcoming and pleasant for all ages and make sure schools are funded, clean, and have access to technology for everybody,” Barger said. This proposition would focus on ensuring facilities are in condition to ensure students feel safe and healthy when entering the classroom.
“In high school, I always remember my math class being in the worst condition. It wasn’t awful but it was old and definitely needed to be updated,” Barger said.
In the 2024 Fall Semester, San José State admitted 9,400 first-year students and community college students, according to San José State’s web page.
Supporting this proposition includes the organization California Teachers Association; California School Nurses Organization; and the Community College League of California, according to the Official Voter Information guide.
Because the money comes as a bond, the government would require taxpayers to pay off the bond through tax dollars according to the same information guide.
The state bonds’ obligation would increase by $10 billion and would overall cost taxpayers a total of $18 billion with interest, according to an Oct. 22, ABC 10 News article.
Voting “No” for this proposition means the state would be unable to borrow $10 billion to build new community colleges or renovate the existing facilities, according to the Official Voter Information Guide.
If the proposition does not pass, smaller and more low-income school districts will not have enough money to pay for school repairs as low-income areas struggle to raise money for bonds, according to CalMatters web page.
because of the high cost of living in California, according to a Sept. 28, 2023 EdSource article.
A “No” vote on Proposition 32 means that the state minimum wage will likely raise the California minimum wage by 50 cents in 2026, making the minimum wage $16.50, according to the California Legislative Analyst’s Office web page.
Proposition 32 may impact working college students by raising the minimum wage, allowing them to afford their basic needs.
More than two out of every three community college students in California have trouble meeting one of their basic needs, according to a Community College League of California report.
The proposition will increase the minimum wage for employers with 26 or more employees to $17 immediately and $18 effective Jan. 1, 2025, according to the Official Voter Information Guide.
Employers with 25 employees or less will see an increase to $17 on Jan. 1, 2025 and then an increase to $18 on Jan. 1, 2026, according to the same guide.
Voting “Yes” on Proposition 32 means that the state’s minimum wage would increase and that it may go up with inflation, according to the same web page.
Trinity Mcginnis, a first-year meteorology graduate student, believes raising the minimum wage would take away stress from students.
“I think it would be important to raise the minimum wage,” Mcginnis said. “Especially working when you’re in school can be hard because if the minimum wage is so low, then you’re working more hours which can lead to more stress and less time working on class assignments.”
California adjusts its minimum wage every year based on inflation, according to a Department of Industrial Relations web page.
Most college students have a lot of debt
This will lead to a very small increase in the minimum wage, meaning students would have to work about 60 hours a week just to keep up with their basic needs, according to a March 16, 2023 University Business article.
However, voting yes can potentially help people who are working minimum wage jobs to be able to afford their basic needs, according to the Official Voter Registration Guide.
Danna Marin, a first-year business administration student believes raising the minimum wage is necessary.
“School already takes the majority of time away from your daily life and worrying about your daily necessities adds more stress than we already have,” Marin said.
In 2024, 54.5% of young individuals between the ages of 16 to 24 were employed and the labor force participation rate was 60.4%, according to a U.S. Department of Labor report.
“If our wage is lower, then we have to work more and as college students, we have too many responsibilities and we can’t live off the current minimum wage,” Marin said.
Proposition 33 will potentially affect college students who rent off-campus housing as it may allow the state to limit rent control or cap rent increases.
The current state law, Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act of 1995, prevents local jurisdictions in California from limiting the initial rental rate in residential properties.
This affects properties first occupied after Feb. 1, 1995, according to the same Official Voter Information Guide.
The average monthly rent in California is about 50% higher than in the rest of the nation, according to a report from the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
Student houselessness ranges from 5% to 20% across public colleges and universities in California, according to a University of Los Angeles (UCLA) survey.
In addition, college students in California already experience food insecurity, with 52% of community college students reporting they have food insecurity, according to a March 7, 2019
California Community Colleges study.
Voting “Yes” for Proposition 33 means that the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act would be repealed, allowing local governments to create certain measures to limit annual rent increases, according to an Oct. 18, CalMatters article.
This also means that if passed, some renters may pay less on their rent but other renters who live in areas that
not have the ability to limit their control, according to the same guide.
Voting “Yes” also means that local rent boards would be allowed to cap rent increases, according to an Oct. 18, CalMatters article.
Sarah Wright, a second-year graphic design student, plans on voting “Yes” for Proposition 33 because she believes rent increases must be capped. “I live off-campus under my parent’s support so I wouldn’t be directly impacted by the proposition,” Wright said. “But I know that that’s not everyone’s situation and a lot of students would struggle if their rent was increased.”
Along with food insecurity and homelessness, student loan debt in California has assimilated to roughly $150 billion, according to a Federal Student Aid Report.
Over 50% of students who attend public two and four year institutions come from low-income families. This results in the student population, according to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Report in 2016.
In addition, about 2.5 million low-income households spend roughly 30% of their paycheck on housing, according to a report from the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
The demographics of those who need student loans consist of 90% of African American students and 72% of Latino students, compared to 66% of white students, according to a 2016 Consumer Finance report.
“College students who are working to live would definitely struggle with paying their rent if it were increased,” Wright said.
If voted “No” this means the state can limit rent control, according to the Official Voter Information Guide.
Written by Anahi Herrera Villanueva
Written by Alejandra Gallo
Proposition 32: Raising Minimum Wage
Written by Alejandra Gallo Proposition 33: Expands Local Governments’ Authority To Enact Rent Control on Residential Property
Centerspread designed by Cia Castro | Research by Hunter Yates
Minorities face hurdles at the polls
By Saturn Williams STAFF WRITER
Over 40 million voters have already exercised their democratic right ahead of Election Day this year, but for many casting a vote involves a legacy of disenfranchisement mired with obstacles.
In an election with the leading Democratic and Republican candidates finishing as close as 0.3% in battleground state polls, the voting booth continues to be inaccessible to many eligible constituents in marginalized communities.
Increased voting regulations and registration purges are being pushed all over the country, with the largest concentrations coming from Republican-led legislatures and committees, according to an Oct. 7 USA Today article.
The U.S. Department of Justice charged the Alabama’s secretary of state on Sept. 27 for illegally purging voters from their registry less than 90 days before the election, according to a Sept. 27 press release from the department's Office of Public Affairs.
Carmen Saleh is an African American studies lecturer at San José State and has organized events to educate students about voting, including voter disenfranchisement laws and the lawmakers who pass them.
“I mean, they might be on the record (as) legitimate, but in terms of just making sense and being inclusive and representative of American democracy, they’re not,” Saleh said. “They’re more representative of fascism.”
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) also requested the Department of Justice to investigate the Georgia secretary of state’s Voter Cancellation Request Portal, according to an Aug. 8 press statement.
The portal can be used as a tactic for voter suppression by
tactic for voter allowing individuals to request the cancellation of their own or another voter’s registration in Georgia by inputting some registration in f ormation, accord ing to an Aug. 5 ProPublica article
A s l ew of issues h ave accompanied its implementation, inclu d ing mu ltipl e l ea k s of sensitive voter in formation, according to the same source. Meanwhile, the Republican
Party of Pennsylvania is requesting the state’s Supreme Court to disallow election boards from working with voters to fix mistakes with their absentee ballots, according to a Sept. 18 petition.
Fela Anikulapo Uhuru, another lecturer in African American Studies, has for decades studied voting disenfranchisement and how it has disproportionately affected communities of color.
“This is generational, this did not just happen last week or a decade ago,” Uhuru said. “This goes back to post-antebellum, 1865 with the implementation of the Jim Crow laws or the convict leasing system.”
Jim Crow policies enforced racial segregation in the South in the late 19th century through the mid-20th century as a response to the emancipation of formerly enslaved African Americans following the Civil War, according to the Jim Crow Museum’s web page.
These policies, with their suppression of Black civil rights, created various methods of suffrage denial targeting the Black constituency, according to a research article in the Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Science.
“Social controllability has always been the name of the game,” Uhuru said.
The Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 banned voting discrimination associated with the Jim Crow era such as poll taxes, literacy tests and grandfather clauses, according to a summary of the legislation from the National Archives.
However, the law was weakened after the 2013 Supreme Court case Shelby County v. Holder ruled that states are allowed to implement rules that were previously prohibited under the Voting Rights Act, according to a 2023 The Guardian article.
Carmen Brammer, co-founder of Santa Clara County’s Together
of Santa Clara County s We Vote Coa lition, said she b ecame active in Santa C lara County p olitics in 2020 after years of experiencing racism in the systems around her
“Jim Crow, in whatever form they want to call it, is still alive today,” Brammer said.
Former segregationist policies have evolve d into t he more subt l e, a ll ege dly race-neutra l
voting restrictions with voter ID laws seen today, according to the previous research article from the Russell Sage Foundation Journal of Social Science.
Black voters are 10% less likely to have access to a valid voter ID than white voters, according to another 2018 study from Fordham University.
In turn, strict voter identification policies adopted in states such as Alabama, Florida and Tennessee are linked to widening racial gaps in voting, according to a June 4, 2020 study from the Politics, Groups, and Identities Journal.
and also pathologizing them, which justifies containing them.”
Racialized minority groups make up over 76% of the populations within historically redlined areas deemed “hazardous,” according to Home Owner’s Loan Corporation data analyzed by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.
These communities of color continue to be underserved on various systemic levels, including voting access, as they are more vulnerable to ballot box closures, according to an American Political Science Association
awareness to Californians and Santa Clara County voters that these systemic issues aren’t only affecting those in other states.
“We’re underinvested and we're underrepresented,” Brammer said. “When you look at our current city council, there's not a black voice on there.”
Other local leaders have also cited lack of investment as the reason the Black population has been declining in San José every 10 years, settling at around 3% today, according to a Jan. 16, 2023, San José Spotlight article.
“We have a lot of the same people running for office. It’s just this ugly cycle, and we need to get new and fresh voices,” Brammer said.
Because of the decimation of the Voting Rights Act, they are passing laws to make it tougher for Black communities to vote and they are doing all the redlining to stop Black people from having power.
Carmen Brammer
Co-founder of Santa Clara County’s Together We Vote Coalition
As the largest Black voting demographic on a national level, Black voters ages 18-49 reported 57% are not satisfied with the 2024 presidential candidates, according to a Pew Research Center survey published on Sept. 30.
“Because of the decimation of the Voting Rights Act, they are passing laws to make it tougher for Black communities to vote and they are doing all the redlining to stop Black people from having power,” Brammer said.
Redlining is a form of de facto housing segregation originally employed in the early 20th century, according to an Aug. 17, 2022 article from The New York Times.
Communities of color were systematically denied the ability to buy homes in well-funded white neighborhoods and shunted into dense urban housing throughout the 20th century, according to the same article.
“In the United States, specifically, that's why we have ghettos once we start racializing these people as the other,” Uhuru said. “Otherizing them,
April 13, 2021 study conducted in Wisconsin.
“I think (it’s) really because of the ghettoized spaces that are still existing today,” Uhuru said. “They're disenfranchised, pushed to the margins and don't have resources.”
Saleh partnered with Brammer, bringing information about voting as a marginalized person to SJSU students at their “The Mandate & The Vote” presentation on Oct. 14.
“I think it’s really important that folks understand the roots of voting and the three-fifths clause and the relic that we live with today of the Electoral College,” Saleh said.
The “Three-Fifths Compromise” was a clause decided on at the Constitutional
once we start t hese pe opl e as t he ot her,” Uhuru said. them, racia l izin g t h em on C onvention of 1787 w h ich allowed slaveholding states to include three-fifths of their slave population when accounting for proportional representation, according to Britannica
The E l ectora l Coll ege bolstered the voting power of w h ite S out her n sl ave owners when it was created and continues to weig h white, rural votes heavier, according to a 2021 Brennan Center for Justice analysis
“We’re not a priority. Only when they want our vote, but our ghettos are still ghettos in 2024,” Uhuru said. “Is it your priority to vote when you're living in such substandard living conditions, or neighborhoods that have been dealing with benign neglect for decades?”
The Pew Research Center also reported that Black, Hispanic and Asian voters on average voted less consistently than white voters in the previous three elections in a July 12, 2023 article.
The Santa Clara Registrar of Voters is allegedly attempting to bridge the gap between “low propensity” voters and the ballot box via the local Voters Rights Act, according to the “Local Voters Rights Act” page.
The act allows the registrar to partner with local organizations to provide educational workshops and voting materials to marginalized communities in Santa Clara County, according to the same page.
the same page U huru sai d issues o f socioeconomic status, mass incarceration and hea lt hcare are intrinsically linked in these discussions of racial inequity.
“ There will always be suppression in any context where there’s a social system or society predicated on maintaining the line of demarcation, the haves and have-nots, the other, the powerful, the powerless,” Uhuru said
B ramme r said she aims to bri ng
Saleh said the substantive change to dismantle these oppressive systems needs to come from an active, multifaceted approach
“I can’t point to one thing because that is inherent in fighting any system,” Saleh said. “You’ve got to have a lot of things happening all at once. It can’t be one person, it can’t be one thing, it can’t be one place, it can’t be one issue.”
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GRAPHIC BY KAYA HENKES-POWER
SJSU discusses Trump, Harris
By Israel Archie STAFF WRITER
With the 2024 presidential election rapidly approaching, the San José State University community is finalizing its votes in an election that can take the country down one of two paths.
Democratic candidate and current Vice President
Kamala Harris wants to keep most of President Joe Biden’s policies in place.
Harris will use a tactic from the Biden administration and focus on how inflation affects the lower and middle class, according to a Sept. 19 CBS News article.
Republican candidate and former president Donald Trump wants to bring back a presidency similar to his first term.
Trump wants to extend tax cuts that benefit the wealthy
aims to establish an activist network among high school and college campuses and SJSU is one of 3,500 chapters, according to their official website.
It’s important for the newer generation to be educated about politics. Being an educated voter is one of the best things we can do for our country.
Jordan
Robinson Turning Point USA President, SJSU chapter
plan and action on (Harris’s) side,” Robinson said. “Having Trump’s policies (to) be able to get things taken care of for the better of this country is where I’m interested.”
to be fine-tuned a lot more,” Robinson said. “I think we should secure our borders, but I don’t agree with the remedy of the damage that’s already been done.”
among likely voters at 51% in comparison to Trump’s 47%, according to an Oct. 27 Forbes article.
plans to vote for Harris because she doesn’t agree with Trump’s stance on women’s health.
and add tariffs to imported goods, according to a Sept. 11, CBS News article.
Jordan Robinson, president of Turning Point USA at SJSU, sees Trump as the ideal candidate despite not aligning with all of his viewpoints.
Turning Point USA is a conservative organization that
“I’m not pro-Trump, I’m just anti-Kamala,” Robinson said. “I feel like that’s something that a lot of people are.”
He said there is not much substance to Harris’s campaign and her ideas for the nation seem unclear.
“There seems to be a lack of
Khush Naidu, a graduate software engineering student is voting for Harris even though he disagrees with some of her policies.
“Neither candidate aligns closely with my beliefs,” Naidu said. “I find myself in the progressive half of the spectrum, so at least some of my beliefs are represented by the Democratic party.”
In the first year of Biden’s presidency, 25% of Americans identified as liberal while 36% described themselves as conservative, according to a Jan. 17, 2022 Gallup article.
While Robinson says Trump will have his vote in November, he doesn’t agree with Trump’s immigration policies because of how he intends to handle the issue.
“I definitely think that the immigration policies need
Trump plans to implement mass deportation as a means to deal with undocumented and unauthorized immigrants in the United States, according to an Oct. 24 CBS News article.
When it comes to Harris and immigration, the former vice president wants to focus on securing the border and crack down on drug smuggling and asylum claims, according to an Associated Press article.
Larry Gerston, an SJSU political science professor and analyst, urges people to pay attention to this election and to be well-informed.
“This is not Tweedledee and Tweedledum,” Gerston said. “This is a moment where we either go in one direction or the other.”
Harris is currently leading
Donna Crane, a lecturer in the Department of Political Science, said she is voting for Harris mainly for the security of the democratic governing style in the United States.
“There are several (policies) that I don’t agree with,” Crane said. “She is more conservative on the issue of healthcare than I would be.”
Crane said she will vote for Harris not because she likes her, but because Harris is not as bad as Trump.
Crane said she disagrees with some of Harris’s policies including healthcare.
Harris’s policies aims to lower prescription drug prices, according to the same Sep. 19,CBS News article.
Insiya Neemuchwala, a second-year political science student, said healthcare for women is especially important to her.
Neemuchwala said she
“He’ll probably take away every right to bodily autonomy that women have overall, which is something that I do not want to see in my lifetime or future generations either,” Neemuchwala said.
Trump’s plan for healthcare is to repeal Obamacare again and replace it with a new one that he has unexplained concepts for, according to an Oct. 27, CNN article.
Robinson said students should pay attention to politics and be mindful of how it works.
“It’s important for the newer generation to be educated about politics,” Robinson said. “Being an educated voter is one of the best things we can do for our country.”
GRAPHIC BY ISRAEL ARCHIE, PHOTOS FROM FILCKR
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State candidates battle for office
By Jackson Lindstrom STAFF WRITER
Local government determines solutions to important issues that occur in the places most relevant to voters, their hometowns.
It wasn’t until 1978 when Measure F was passed that San José voters established the city’s legislative system into what is used today, according to the City of San José’s website.
City representatives are voted in by citizens of each city district, instituting San José’s current local government, according to the same website.
Madison Nguyen, a former vice mayor of San José from 2011 to 2014, is running against Betty Duong for the Board of Supervisors in District 2.
“I am very confident that we will be able to reduce homelessness in our community, (and) my plan is to work with the city of San José,” Nguyen said. “The city’s priority is to build transitional housing, interim housing shelters, to help transition the unhoused residents into a safe sleeping environment.”
Santa Clara County has a houseless population of roughly 9,900 people in 2023, according to a press release from Santa Clara county.
“The county has an annual budget of $12.5 billion and yet we continue to see ... the same issues happening repeatedly year after year,” Nguyen said. “It’s time that ... the city and county have to come together.”
Nguyen said she plans to start addressing the prob-
lem by calling the mayor of San José, Matt Mahan, and immediately getting to work on curtailing the issue.
Aside from houselessness, Nguyen is aiming to provide solu-
Santa Clara is listed as the fourth most expensive county in the US and the most expensive county in California by an Oct. 24, Forbes article.
Non-partisan offices include Superior Court Judge
to houselessness, creating new housing, creating jobs with better wages and getting more police officers on staff in San José, according to his campaign website.
The most recent data
Police Department statistics. Navarro’s primary goals include increasing public safety, creating job training programs, creating emergency housing to help reduce houselessness, and improving community and
criminal law, so I’m acutely aware of the fact that the state legislature ... do everything they can to water down the consequences for committing serious or violent felonies,” Stroll said. crease in violent crimes and ty crimes committed from
according to her website.
Duong has four main issues to tackle including better public safety, creating more housing development, improving county service accessibility, and reducing houselessness, according to her campaign website.
Khang Dinh, a first-year psychology student, said having affordable housing was his biggest concern.
“The housing here just costs so much that it’s just better off living in an apartment and not having to buy a house,” Dinh said. “(It’s) a really big problem here especially because housing is such an important thing, but we don’t make enough money to afford living here.”
city council members in Districts 2, 6, 8 and 10, according to the Santa Clara County website.
Michael Mulcahy, a local business owner, is running for San José City Council for District 6 candidate against Olivia Navarro.
“I think headcount (and the) overall numbers of police officers has a direct correlation to our ability to be a safer community, so I want to focus there,” Mulcahy said. “We need to make sure that San José is providing the best training and the best tools and equipment available to make our smaller police force as efficient as possible.”
Mulcahy’s campaign focuses on the core issues of providing solutions
During COVID-19, I was just horrified at the economic damage that was done to Santa Clara County and specifically struggling small business people.
Ted Stroll Assemblymember candidate
Department reported 35 homicides, according to 2022 San Jose
appearance, according to her campaign website. Voter-nominated offices for this election include members of the State Assembly for Districts 23 to 29, according to the Santa Clara County website.
Ted Stroll, a retired attorney from San José, is running against Assemblymember Ash Kalra for state assembly.
“During COVID-19, I was just horrified at the economic damage that was done to Santa Clara County and specifically struggling small business people,” Stroll said.
Stroll said that one disagreement of the state legislature and its leniency on crime.
“My background is in
2022 to 2023, according to San José Police Department statistics.
Kalra’s website biography lists some of the main issues including resolving the housing crisis, creating a single-payer healthcare system and racial and environmental issues.
Mulcahy agreed with Stroll and Nguyen that houselessness in the Bay Area has become a crisis.
“San José is encouraging its partners around other South Bay cities to do their part as well because this is a regional problem,” Mulcahy said.
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Third parties deserve recognition
By Anfisa Pitchkhadze STAFF WRITER
The 2024 presidential election is approaching and it seems America is set to vote for a candidate representing the Democratic or the Republican party.
The United States political sector is based on a two-party system which is when two major political parties consistently take control of the political landscape, according to the U.S. Embassy & Consulate website.
Third parties, which are outside parties of the two-party system, tend to not be checked on the ballots.
The Libertarian Party is a political party that opposes government interference in the personal lives of American citizens, according to the Libertarian web page.
Mark Hinkle, a national chairman of the Libertarian Party, said the challenge for a third party is getting enough media coverage compared to the two major parties.
“Most states are exactly the same; they either lead Republican or they lead Democrat and there’s literally like five or six states that are going to decide the outcome of the election,” Hinkle said.
Hinkle said the dominance of these major parties creates an environment where voters feel compelled to choose between the two.
Out of all registered voters, 49% prefer the Democratic Party while 48% of registered voters prefer the Republican Party, according to an April 9 Pew Research Center report.
The Green Party is a political party that stands for grass-
root democracy, nonviolence, gender equality, anti-racism, decentralization and community-based economics, according to its website.
Sean Dougherty, a Green Party candidate running for District 19, said he feels third parties are being ignored.
“It sets the party apart from the traditional two-party system, suggesting a commitment to grassroots funding and independence from corporate influence,” Dougherty said.
He said a core principle of the party is having a strict policy against accepting corporate campaign contributions.
“Democrats, for example, have to advocate for things that are good for the constituents while the Green Party is not going too far in the direction of violating the agenda of their corporate donors,” Dougherty said.
He said he is concerned about the negative campaigning in national elections that detracts from substantive discussions about policies.
Dougherty said the current state of the U.S. elections reflect a broader struggle for third parties to attract dedicated supporters while navigating the dominant two-party system.
He said third parties struggle on securing funding through electoral performance as they navigate financial constraints that limit their competitiveness in elections.
Green Party candidate Jill Stein had the support of 5%7% of registered voters back in 2016, according to a June 27 Pew Research Center report.
Nassim Nouri, a volunteer
and elected council member for the Green Party, discussed what steps it would take for a third party to get more involved in a presidential election.
“Our job is to try to appeal to the consciousness of voters and educate them about the fact that we exist because unfortunately, we don’t have a great level of education around civics, rather policymaking and around electoral politics in our education systems,” Nouri said.
Nouri said it is the electoral power that changes policy including anti-war movements, social justice and racial justice movements.
The Green Party of the U.S. has over 140 members elected in office to have Green Party policies set in various parts of the country, according to the party’s web page.
“I’m grateful for those movements because they do make people aware, but I
dont think the Green Party in general believe(s) that making people aware is enough,” Nouri said.
She said there is more than informing certain information about certain issues. In order for the party to have their voices heard, it is key to go beyond.
“Awareness must lead to action, and it’s crucial to encourage those who are engaged to take the next step,” she said.
Nouri said the second step is to ask the same people to take notice. She believes that protesting is not the only action that will change policy.
She said individuals should vote on what they believe most and have their voice heard.
Around 58% of adults in the United States believe there is a need for third party involvement in an election, according to an Oct. 1 Gallup report.
“We know that we’re not gonna win an election as soon as we enter it, we know we are small,” Nouri said.
Ashley Carrasco, a third year forensic biology student, said third parties are in need to be involved more in elections.
“They have different views and different takes and a lot of them will have great ideas, but still just don’t get recognition for it,” Carrasco said.
Carrasco also said that with the Democratic and Republican parties having donations put in their political game, it seems like the election is more of a competition of which party can raise the most money and most funding.
“I feel like that makes it an unfair advantage for the people running as independent,” Carrasco said.
Democratic and the Republican parties’ popularity help earn a significant
amount of coverage from various news outlets influencing many Americans to vote for a party that aligns closer with their policies, according to the U.S. Embassy & Consulate website.
Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, most notably donated $118.6 million to Republican candidate former president Donald Trump, according to an Oct. 16 Washington Post article.
“As you can imagine, every media outlet, you pretty much see Trump or (Kamala) Harris,” Hinkle said. “A significant number of polling indicates a number of people who are actually voting against Trump or against Harris, not for them against the other opponent.”
Hinkle said he believes that many individuals still feel compelled to vote against major party candidates instead of supporting a viable third-party option.
In the upcoming election, it is reported that Harris has a 51%-47% advantage, but there are still undecided states that make the presidential race closer with Election Day app, according to a USA Today report.
“There’s this perception that there’s only two candidates when in fact, there are actually several candidates,” Hinkle said.
GRAPHIC BY JACKSON LINDSTROM , PHOTOS FROM FLICKR
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ALINA TA | SPARTAN DAILY
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