I’m turning 21 this year, and I’ve been preparing for two things: having my first drink and voting in my first presidential election.
I feel well-prepared for the former, but I’m not sure I’m well-prepared to vote.
Although I received a lot of information about the logistics of voting, including step-by-step instructions for requesting a mail-in ballot, courtesy of the Harvard University Vote Challenge, I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t really know who I am. Vote for
My first priority was deciding how to vote for president. As a busy student, I took advantage of both the presidential and vice presidential debates to learn about the candidates’ four-year agendas. However, I found it difficult to follow either candidate’s persuasive arguments due to the constant fights and vitriol.
Instead of proposing strategies to lower food prices or address the many problems plaguing the United States, both candidates embraced vague yet inflammatory rhetoric. In between calls for world peace and a better nation, the biggest thing I took away from former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris during the debate was that they both wanted the abstract concept of “change.” It meant being there.
What I’m still missing is a clear understanding of how they plan to make that change happen or what that actually means.
Although entertaining, we had no choice but to turn to news outlets to learn more about the candidates’ policies to make up for the lack of information from the volatile debates. But this is because articles from reliable sources like the BBC present fairly dense and innocuous explanations of candidates’ policies that are difficult to reconcile with hyperbolic statements on Twitter and Instagram. I felt it was useless.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to separate fact from error. I also seriously consider reliable primary sources more than other forms of media, but I recognize that other people’s opinions and ideas shape my decisions.
I think my vote depends as much on what these candidates actually do: who else is supporting them, their demeanor, and the quality of their advertising. I had to accept the fact that it is also influenced by how people are grouped together. . It feels like we are choosing figureheads rather than leaders who make decisions that have global impact.
It’s just as bad at the local level. On Election Day, there will be many questions on local and state ballots, and I want to take a position on them. But even as texts and emails from candidates flood my phone, I remain in the dark about their policies and platforms. I now know that one of the local government candidates is a lawyer and another is backed by the Democratic Party. That alone is not enough context to make an informed decision.
When I received my mail-in ballot a few weeks ago, I took advantage of my 19th Amendment rights and voted on only the three issues on the ballot that I had researched and understood to have a significant impact. I decided to do it. I can’t imagine what that would be like for people who work multiple jobs, raise families, or are too busy to scrutinize political issues.
I understand that presidential elections are competitive. But I wish it had at least resembled the Olympics more than reality TV. I feel like I’m back in middle school voting for class president, judging all the 12-year-old candidates by the glitter-to-marker ratio on their election posters. Unfortunately, the stakes in this election are much greater than choosing the best homecoming dance theme.
I just hope that my involvement in future elections won’t feel so shallow. The onus is on the people to go to the polls, but it is up to candidates and political parties to provide concrete evidence of their platforms so that all voters can vote with confidence.
Candidates, for the sake of democracy, it’s time to cut through the frills and showmanship and get down to earth.
Sandhya Kumar ’26 is an editor at Crimson and a co-investigator in Molecular Cell Biology and Statistics at Winthrop House.
