Along with presidential candidates, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, Chico City Council, State Senate seats, 10 propositions and State Assembly members are on the California ballot.
The Bell Memorial Union on the Chico State campus is open as a voting location until 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Students, faculty and Chico community members lined up to register to vote and submit their ballots. Some of them said they waited hours to vote.
Chico State student Hannah Sperske was waiting on the steps of the BMU for a friend who had been in line to vote for two hours. She told us another friend of hers decided to go home after being told he’d have to wait at the end of the line to vote.
Student Lilianna Jallo said that due to the line, she was going to leave and hopefully vote later in the day.
Despite the long wait time, many voters were eager to cast their ballots.
Voters varied in what they believed was the most important issue on the ballot.
Several students and staff mentioned they were happy to vote on Proposition 3, which if passed would alter the California State Constitution regarding the language around marriage, as to them it is the most important item on the ballot.
“I’m glad [to vote] on the change [to the state constitution] for marriage and how it’s defined. I’m glad that that’s up for us to vote on so I was happy to vote yes on that,” said Associated Students Conference Services staff member Hugh Hammond.
Some of the propositions on the ballot seemed to confuse voters, particularly those that involved state bonds or additional city funds.
“I wanna see improvements in the city but it’s a little unclear to me how those dollars will actually get spent. I voted yes for it but I’m a little unsure of how that’ll shake out,” said Hammond.
Student Kate Castillo said that she chose not to vote on the propositions when she filled out her ballot.
“I just filled out who I wanted to be our president because I didn’t really have a lot of time,” said Castillio.
Others voiced their concern that the new propositions may raise taxes beyond what they find reasonable.
“There’s a proposition about funding schools, I’d say that’s pretty important but it’ll also just raise taxes so it’s a give and take and there’s a couple of those that are on there,” Johnathan Jimenez, Butte County resident, said. He believes that there could be benefits to the propositions, but that it will put California further into debt and strain voters financially.
Jimenez said that he believes Trump is going to win the presidential election, but that he didn’t vote for either candidate.
“Trump is a felon and I haven’t seen anything [from] Kamala. [She] hasn’t done anything that I’ve seen. I like some of her policies, I like some of Trump’s policies but I just don’t like either as a person,” said Jimenez.
Jimenez isn’t alone in thinking that Trump will win the race. Chico resident Elijah Pascual said that while the race is very close, he thinks that Trump is likely to win the national race.
“You wanna look out for the future of our kids,” said Pascual. “This is my first year voting so I’m just looking out for what’s better for the future generation going forward.”
Still, many voters think the race is too close to call as several mentioned that the polls have been showing a close split on Harris and Trump.
“I think Kamala Harris is gonna win California but I don’t know who’s gonna win for the presidency,” said student Ethan Woodhouse.
He said that to him it appeared Harris was going about the presidential election in a more professional manner.
Others believe that regardless of the close poles, Harris is going to win in the end.
Whoever the president is, needs to relate to the population of the citizens, student Lizzie Ellcessor said. “And the fact that she’s a woman, and it intersects with her also being a woman of color, she not only can hear the people, but she has been the people.”
Issues that voters felt impacted their decision regarding the presidency included economic health, border security, immigration laws, climate change, LGBTQ support, women’s rights and abortion.
“We deserve rights — fundamental and basic rights,” said Butte County voter Katie Ann Brower.
Votes won’t be certified in Butte County until Dec. 13, but counting will begin as soon as the polls close.
Jessica Miller and Bea Williams can be reached at [email protected].
