As soon as Abhiram Permareddy, senior, turned 18 on Thursday Oct. 3, he eagerly counted the days until he could cast his vote on Tuesday Nov. 5.
“It was pretty fun, and we had the day off,” Permareddy said. “I met up with some friends who were also going to vote with me.”
Permareddy went to Kehrs Mill Elementary school to vote and was surprised the wait was only 10 minutes.
Permareddy said he is surprised, happy and optimistic about the results of the election.
The final vote has not yet come out, but President-elect Donald Trump has won the Electoral College and the national popular vote. Republicans won control of the Senate, but control of the House has not been determined yet.
“I don’t think many people expected Trump to win by that much, they thought it would be a 50/50,” Permareddy said. “I hope we see some changes in the economy and changes in the border policy. I’d like to see less likelihood of going into war.”
Permareddy said even though Missouri is traditionally a Republican state, he believes every vote makes a difference.
“It’s important to vote, even if you’re not a Republican, because there’s a lot of other issues down the ballot and propositions that you can still have a major say in,” Permareddy said. “You shouldn’t be discouraged.”
Though Permareddy said he was confident voting for a presidential candidate and some of the propositions, he felt unprepared voting for the judges because he didn’t know how to research them.
Permareddy researched some specific issues in advance. For him, the economy and inflation were big issues.
“Just how the economy as a whole is doing, I opposed some of the stuff that was happening foreign policy wise,” Permareddy said.
Permareddy said he found a lot of information about the candidates and the election through TikTok and X, along with information from peers with differing viewpoints.
Permareddy said it is important for young people to participate in the election.
“It’s one of the civic duties of being a citizen,” Permareddy said. “We’re at the age that we’re going to get our first jobs, go to college, start our careers and our families, so it’s important.”
Erin Sullenger, government teacher, said many of her students stayed up late to watch the election.
”Many of them said that they wish they would have just gone to bed instead of staying up so late,” Sullenger said.
Sullenger also said voter accessibility may have been an issue because of power outages and flooding throughout the St. Louis area.
“On my route yesterday, I saw a particular road close that was by a polling place,” Sullenger said. “Hopefully they went back again later to cast their vote when the roads were clear.”
Despite roadblocks, Sullenger said voting is important for everyone, especially young people.
“If you start voting when you’re young, you’ll just have that built into the way that you are and understanding that our votes do matter,” Sullenger said.
Kevin Dunbar, senior, said he was disappointed Kamala Harris lost the election but is looking forward to the next election.
He said he voted for the candidate that aligned the most with his political views, and that Amendment 3 to the Missouri Constitution over abortion rights was an important issue for him.
“I feel like the government shouldn’t have a say in what women do with their bodies,” Dunbar said.
Dunbar said the election has had an impact on the atmosphere of the school.
“Some people really took this election very highly seriously,” Dunbar said. “I know I am one of those people, and I normally wouldn’t let politics come in the way of friendships, but it kind of came in the way.”
Dunbar said his first experience with voting was embarrassing because as a first time voter, it is a custom to cheer for first time voters at a polling place.
“It was just really embarrassing,” Dunbar said. “But it was really fun. It was really an easy process. For me it was in and out.”
