Out of the 2665 students at SJHHS 125 of them are above the age of 18. These students have the opportunity to vote in the 2024 General Election.
To understand the attitudes of these newly eligible voters, the Express sat down with self-identified liberal, Elliot Ruvalcaba, self-identified moderate, Ben Dart, and self-identified conservative, Jason Studdert.
Prior to the interview, Ruvalcaba filled out his mailed-in ballot, while Dart and Studdert planned to vote in person on election day.
The Express: Do you plan on only voting for president?
Studdert: I’m undecided for right now.
Dart: Probably just for the president.
Ruvalcaba: When I filled out my ballot, I filled in the president and everything local. I feel like if it is on there I should probably worry about it. Even if it is just a local issue, that is what impacts us the most.
The Express: Are you affiliated with any specific political party?
Ruvalcaba: I’m generally left-leaning, but I voted Democrat because I feel like although I don’t agree with everything the party is doing, I know most of my views align with them.
Dart: I tend to flip-flop between sides. I’m generally more right-moderate.
Studdert: I’m generally more conservative. I do tend to flip-flop on some issues. I would say I’m mainly affiliated with the Republican Party.
The Express: Do you share the same political beliefs as your parents and family members?
Ruvalcaba: Generally, mostly similar, but my parents grew up in more rural areas. I would say mostly we agree, but I have a more liberal view of the world because of where I grew up.
Dart: My family is split 50-50. Hard left, and hard right.
Studdert: My parents are both generally conservative, so I grew up conservative. It has come to the point now where I have started to disagree with them on certain things.
The Express: What are the most important issues to you in this election?
Dart: I would say the line between safety and how much we are getting taxed and the state of the economy are the most important issues for me.
Ruvalcaba: I think women’s reproductive rights are the most important issue right now. It is especially worrying how Roe v. Wade was overturned. No one thought that could happen. In my opinion, I think it is a right that should not be impeded by the government at all. Just seeing how some states are changing things causes me to lean to the left. Issues like that matter, and I think we need to do something about it.
Studdert: One thing I worry about is the cultural issues of America. Whether it’s liberal, conservative, or whatever else, what scares me is the ongoing political climate that we are in, where people hate each other for things. I condemn political violence. In the past few weeks, I’ve noticed that conservatives will attack liberals, and liberals attack conservatives. And that’s one of the biggest fears I have is the increase in political violence.
Dart: I think one of the most important things is to just be able to talk to the other party. I feel like we are starting to lose the ability to talk to each other.
Studdert: There isn’t enough civil discourse going on. I find that when people say something, they immediately want to jump and react. They go off of what they feel and not what the person said.
The Express: Do you think that depending on who wins this election, we will see more or less political polarization?
Ruvalcaba: I wouldn’t be surprised if it does. Either way, there is going to be a large group of people who will be upset by how it turns out. Obviously, that isn’t what we want. But I know Harris is trying to get more bipartisanship within her commitment, so there is less divisiveness. Which I think we need.
The Express: Do you think you and most of your friends share similar political beliefs?
Ruvalcaba: I think I mostly align with the beliefs of my friends because politics are important to us. I think we get along more because we share values and beliefs on issues that we find important.
Dart: I think in general, there is just a sense of common belief and morality [between friends]. Depending on your political inclination, you tend to have morals that you believe in and find friends who have the same set of morals.
Studdert: I have friends from all sides of the political spectrum, which I like. I try not to let politics get in between me and my friends or family. I just try to be nice to people. I have some friends that I don’t agree with on most political issues, but we still are friends with each other. I will say, it is hard to be best friends with someone you disagree with.
The Express: How openly do you talk with your peers about politics?
Ruvalcaba: I would say pretty openly. At least once a week. If there is something I hear about or read on the news I’ll ask them “Hey did you hear about this?” and we will talk about it casually.
Dart: If I hear about soothing going on I’ll talk to them [my friends] about it. I try to talk to people who I know also want to talk about it. I try to not step on their beliefs, but I will question them to make sure they understand what they are talking about.
Studdert: I used to talk about politics a lot with my friends, but I don’t do it anymore. I have a lot of friends who lean the other way, and I don’t want to bring [politics] up with them. I’ve lost a few friends who completely disagree with me and no longer want to talk to me anymore because of certain things I have said. I thought that was unfair, but it is what it is. I’ve learned to not bring it up as much anymore.
The Express: Have you been a victim of misinformation?
Studdert: Absolutely. It happens all the time. Almost every day I’m reading something that I think is true and then a day later I’ll find out it wasn’t true. It happens to both sides of the political aisle.
Ruvalcaba: I think everyone is affected by misinformation because a lot of news sources prioritize sensationalization of the news, rather than the facts of the news. I feel like I have definitely gotten better at making sure what I’m reading is true.
Dart: After the first presidential debate, between Biden and Trump, I waited a day and then I looked at the fact checks from CNN. I then read what Fox News had to say, and it was completely different. It was hard to tell what was fact-checked because both sides were trying to paint the best picture of the candidate.
The Express: How did gaining access to social media change your political beliefs?
Studdert: I think my access to social media led me from a more conservative point of view to a more moderate or independent stance. There are so many points of view out there that I’m trying to understand, so in the past few years, I’ve become more independent in my beliefs.
Ruvalcaba: On the internet, you are exposed to so many different ideas. We live in a bubble here in Orange County, where we aren’t exposed to as many things. But seeing the views of people from all over the world on a bunch of different topics, I was like “Oh I didn’t even realize this before” or “I have never heard about this.” It has definitely shaped my beliefs because it has opened my eyes to things I may have never worried about before.
Dart: When I grew up, I was always more right-leaning because I grew up religious. When I found out about other opinions and how others think, I realized many issues are far more broad and can’t be solved by one [political] party.
The Express: As students, are you planning on voting for the Area 2 Trustee?
Studdert: That is something that I have looked into, but I haven’t fully considered it yet.
Dart: I’m not very concerned with it.
Ruvalcaba: Based on the article [published by the Express], I realized who I thought was important to vote for. I found that Michael Parham was supported by a lot of teachers. One of my elementary school teachers came to my door a few weeks ago and spoke with my mom. She explained that this issue was important to teachers. I felt that if a large majority of teachers are siding with a specific candidate, I figured it must be important.
The Express: How much have you thought about how you are going to vote and who you are voting for?
Studdert: I looked at policies, and not necessarily the candidate. Candidates can say as many things as they want, but when it comes down to their policies, that is what is most important. I try not to think about the candidates based on their actions as human beings, but based on their policies.
Dart: I tend to look at it as “what will help my future.” Looking at economics, it doesn’t seem like [Kamala Harris] will make any extreme changes [to the economy]. While Trump seems like more of a wild card, where he could either help or destroy [the economy]. In my opinion, this would help me in the future because destroying the economy means a housing crash, which would help me or helping the economy, which is a great thing for me.
Ruvalcaba: I’ve spent a lot of time considering it. I honestly wasn’t going to vote for one of the two major parties because there are certain issues I care about that weren’t being represented by these parties. I considered that if I didn’t vote for the Democratic candidate, then a lot of my views wouldn’t be represented by the government.
The views in this article reflect the views of these three students and not The Express as a whole.
