Local News
How do Bloomington voters feel about the impending presidential election?
Bloomington, Indiana – The polls have failed to provide a definitive response in either direction as the days leading up to the 2024 presidential election draw to a close. Many voters in Bloomington are eager to watch the outcome.
More than 22,000 citizens of Monroe County have already cast their ballots for early voting as of this writing, up from both the 2016 and 2020 elections combined. Although he lost the state of Indiana to former President Donald Trump, who received 57% of the vote, President Joe Biden won the county in 2020 with 63.1% of the vote.
Since 2004, Monroe County has voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in each general election. It is among the five Indiana counties that cast a blue ballot in 2020.
Despite the potential consequences, George Turchyn, a 70-year resident of Bloomington and an IU alumnus, said he found voting early to be liberating and enjoyable.
“I’m afraid. I’m married, and if Trump wins, my wife and I have considered leaving the country,” Turchyn stated. “We have examined Portugal, Spain, and Britain, among other locations.”
Anna Fernandez, a student at IU, is similarly anxious. As a first-time voter, she emphasized the value of participating in political processes.
Fernandez remarked, “My roommate and I were discussing the idea that we might not even want to watch the election night.” “The thought of how different the country could look is just too nerve-racking, so we just want to wake up and see what happens.”
In their responses to the election, the Indiana Daily Student spoke with a number of voters who chose not to be identified, and others chose not to be interviewed. One even declared that voicing their opinion was “too dangerous.” According to a Cato Institute survey, nearly two-thirds of Americans said they were afraid to voice their opinions because of the present political environment.
Known as the “bluest place in New England,” Cambridge, Massachusetts, is home to election mapper Alex Chueh. As part of an ongoing social project that involved chatting to a stranger every day, he selected locations throughout the Midwest that had a significant slant toward Republican candidates in past elections to visit and observe different viewpoints.
“Aside from your standard yard signs and your flags flying, I don’t really encounter a lot of open political expression,” Chueh stated. “I believe that most people are not interested in politics.”
A 2017 Vox piece that claimed that many people don’t have a completely liberal or conservative mindset caught his attention, he said. Chueh believed that a lot of voters don’t give politics enough attention to form strong opinions.
According to him, the rural regions of Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin are more indicative of the typical political ideology of voters.
Chueh stated that when people hear the word “centrist,” they usually picture someone who holds reasonable opinions about everything. “In reality, the typical American centrist holds strong opinions that are in opposition to one another.”
Instead of identifying as Republicans or Democrats, many voters identify as independent. Voters are forced to choose under the two-party system, yet some feel that their selections are insufficient.
According to IU student Maddy Rodriguez, she intended to cast her absentee ballot for Vice President Kamala Harris even though she didn’t think she was flawless.
For want of a better term, she stated, “I think we’re screwed either way.”
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