It’s less than a month till the 2020 November Presidential elections which some students in the Quakertown High School senior class will be eligible to participate in.

The New York Times did a study and found, “At 66 percent, young people are among the most likely to feel pessimistic about the worth of their vote.” So in an effort to bring att

ention to the Senior class just how much their vote can count, I constructed a survey with eight simple questions. The survey was completely optional for any student open to taking it and students opposed to participating and students who wished not to participate were not under any pressure to do so. 

All in all, a total of 76 volunteering seniors completed the anonymous survey. The first question of the survey was, ‘Are you eligible to vote?’ This question was important so that we could see how many people are actually capable of influencing the 2020 election. Out of the 76 responses, 27 students confirmed that they are eligible to vote; whereas, 49 said that they are not eligible to vote. And out of the 35.5 percent that said they were eligible to vote, 31 percent confirmed that they will be voting in person while only 20.5  percent is choosing to vote by mail. 

A major issue that is the center of controversy today is the selection of a new Supreme Court Justice following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. As our leaders argue on when the selection should be done, I took the question to the Senior class to hear their take on it. 63.4 percent felt that the new Supreme Court Justice should be selected after the November elections while 36.6 percent disagreed and felt like the selection should be done before the election. 

As we all know, this devastating Pandemic has taken a big hit to every Country around the world including ours. Time has reported that America has surpassed all other countries with over 8 million Covid Cases and 223, 622 deaths. One of the big questions the American citizens have is how the elected President will respond to the Pandemic. 70.8 percent of senior students think that President Trump will respond poorly in contrast to 31.9 percent who think Vice President Biden will be the one to have a poor response to the Pandemic. 

This summer, the country seemed to freeze as we witnessed the tragedies of police brutality, racism, and White Nationalism. When the brutal murder of George Floyd hit the news, protesters in all fifty American states took to the street to fight for Justice and Equality for Black people in this Country. Most American Citizens can agree that we want a leader who will unite us and provide Justice for the unjust. When it comes to Vice President Biden, 33.3 percent of 72 senior students think he will respond very well to the issue of racism, Police brutality, and White Nationalism. On the other hand, 13.1 percent differ and believe President Trump will respond better than Vice President Biden concerning these issues.

To wrap up the survey, I asked students which running President they believe is most qualified to be President. Out of the 67 responders, 29.9 chose President Trump to be most qualified while 70.1 percent chose Vice President Joe Biden to be most qualified. I asked senior Elizabeth Geizer why she thinks that seniors who are eligible to vote, should do so. Geizer responded with, “Seniors who are eligible to vote should because it’s important to use your voice to elect people that you think will make changes that you feel are necessary. Your votes will impact your future for many years to come, so it’s important to use your voice for positive changes.” With that being said, it is important that seniors that are of voting age to know that regardless of who they decide to vote for, their vote counts and plays a role in the outcome of this November election. Do not count on someone else’s vote to speak for you, use your own vote to speak for yourself.