By: Knightly News Staff

We asked the members of The Knightly News: How are you feeling about the impending election? Though none of the members will be able to vote this year, we still have a range of opinions on the various developments in one of the most hectic cycles in recent memory.

Some were worried about the potential for a low voter turnout, whether due to complacency, apathy, or voter suppression.

Natalie Leung: The best way to describe how I feel about the impending election is ambivalent. I follow the election pretty closely, and I am in favor of Joe Biden winning the election. The polls have been showing him in the lead, and so I am hopeful that he will be able to beat Donald Trump and get him out of the White House. Although, at the same time, I fear that this is deja vu from four years ago at this time, when Hillary Clinton was ahead in the polls, yet Donald Trump ended up beating her on Election Day. So although I am confident that the American people recognize that we need to get Trump out of office, I am afraid that some people may not go out and vote because they can’t pick between the two candidates or because they feel like their vote doesn’t matter.

Ria Prasad: This time around, I’m doing my best to not be fooled by misleading polls that get my hopes up. That being said, I feel even more uneasy this year as I have been hyper-consuming as much information as I can to gauge what the results are going to be. At the moment, despite the polls showing Biden in the lead, I am forcing myself to believe it is anyone’s game; is that me preparing myself in the case that Trump wins? I’m not exactly sure. Where my worries are is that there is an increasing amount of voter suppression being reported across all the states. At the end of the day it won’t matter who turns out to vote and who they vote for if the votes aren’t even counted in the first place. 

Others are worried about things happening around them.

Kieran Sattiraju: As I come downstairs from doing homework, most nights I see my parents angry watching the news, distraught at the state of America. One night after coming back upstairs to finish up my history paper, I thought to myself, “I am learning about something that happened 300 years ago, but I do not have enough time to keep up with one of the most important elections in our country’s history.” I do not know how to feel about that, though. However, I find it interesting that I spend so many nights working on things that in the grand scheme mean very little. The values I learn from doing this work might matter, but I have to wonder why the work can’t be centered more around what is going on currently.

John Carter: I’m feeling nervous.  The election seems incredibly polarized this year, and I feel like either way it turns out there will be significant backlash by the other party.  The policies behind the election are dividing families, costing people relationships, and even causing violence at rallies and protests.  The tension in the country has been building for years, and the election could very well be what cuts the cord.  No matter who wins, a large number of Americans will be enraged at the result.  Claiming voter fraud or interference from another country, it could take quite a while to find out who has actually won.

Taylor Alphonso: To be honest, I haven’t been keeping up with politics. It’s not only too much of a hassle for me and I don’t have the time, but I get aggravated every time I watch or read about it, so I don’t anymore. In regards to the election, I think it’s going to be awful. Regardless of who wins, half of the country is going to be furious. The aftermath of the election is not going to be good for anyone in this country. However, like I said, because I am not exactly up to date on the election, I can’t say too much about how the election is going or what the outcome might be. I probably should be more in tune with what has been happening, and I do know some aspects of what’s going on (due to my father’s continuous rambling about politics), however, I don’t know enough to talk about it. I guess it’s partly because I can’t find the time, but I also don’t really want to know. I think the entire election and everything that has happened this year, politically and not, is starting to take a toll on people, including myself. That’s the main reason why I have not really been paying attention to the political happenings that are around me.

As we look to the future, we have our own concerns, worries, and hopes.

Ismail Sy: I feel fine, to be honest. I do not really have an interest in following politics. However, I am interested in what candidate will do more for African Americans and minorities in general. That is the main thing I care about.

Dhriti Goudar: Currently, I’m nervous. I’ve read a couple articles about how close the election is, so everything is touch and go from here. It’s important to note that if a certain person doesn’t win, riots will most likely break out. I also heard that all around California, there have been cases of fake voter boxes, and the Republican Party completely ignored this when brought up and didn’t see the problem in it. It is horrible considering this is downright voter suppression. I don’t know—everything’s going okay but we need to keep advocating and hoping for the best.

Joshua Chait: As a result of the frustration of being a mere three months shy of voter age, my primary feeling is definitely nervousness. As a Democratic-leaning person, all I can feel is hope in the voters, a feeling that’s hard to maintain after the misplaced optimism of 2016’s election. Nonetheless, I’m choosing to be cautiously optimistic.