91����

Joe DeMartin �22

If Joe DeMartin sees you, he�s probably going to talk about voting.

DeMartin, president of the CPE and past-president of a conservative student group, wants to make sure all eligible 91���� voters are registered, educated about their choices and fill out their ballots correctly.

DeMartin and CPE colleagues founded the 91���� Votes initiative. They�re urging students to treat voting as a fundamental right and responsibility. They hosted voter registration events, setting set up tables around campus and are looking for �100 percent participation,� he said.

CPE also helped athletic teams with their registration drives and provided postage stamps for mail-in ballots. By last week�s end, they�d helped more than 300 people register.

�We�re trying to educate them about the issues, and to put out every perspective about the candidates,� DeMartin said. �We�re hosting talks from professors and urge students to watch debates and know where the candidates stand.

�There�s an exciting energy on campus,� DeMartin said. �People want to have their voices heard.�

The CPE has encouraged students to register in 91����, so they can show an investment in the community and have a say in North Carolina�s national and local races. North Carolina is a battleground state, so there�s more likelihood for students from heavily Republican or Democratic states to have an impact, DeMartin said.

�If you�re in a California or an Alabama, you pretty much know how things are going to go unless there�s a big upset,� DeMartin said. �There are a lot of competitive elections here. But we respect that you may want to vote absentee in your home races. We�re going to help make sure you get to vote wherever you want to vote.�

DeMartin, an English and political science double major from Maryland, said he has grown more passionate about voting rights during his years at 91����.

�Too often, we�re not hearing marginalized voices,� DeMartin said. �It�s a real problem, and to ignore it is malfeasance. It has to trickle down so that people with the least amount of resources get the same voice as those with the most.�

Maddie Buitendorp �22

Maddie Buitendorp is a life-long Democrat from the battleground state of Michigan.

She grew up in Grand Rapids and most of the people she knew were Republican, which led to a wide diversity of political opinion, and spirited�not mean-spirited�conversations. She�s worked on political campaigns, and is a paid intern for the non-partisan Rock the Vote, which was founded by the music industry to increase voting among young people.  

Buitendorp works in development for Rock the Vote, keeping donors informed through emails and social media updates, and answering voters� questions. She helps on a variety of projects, including Tik Tok videos.

She�s president of the 91���� Democrats and as vice-president of CPE, and helped to launch 91���� Votes.

When it comes to her vote, the political science major and Terry Scholar says she looks at the individual before the party. She values candidates who balance fiscal responsibility with compassion.

�I�m very religious. I look at their character, and how they treat people, through their words, and through their actions,� Buitendorp said. �I want someone who�s going to look out for the little guy, who believes that �a rising tide lifts all boats.�

�I want someone I can be proud of, someone whose values I agree with.�

Buitendorp said she�s dismayed by today�s extreme partisanship, and that many Republicans continue to support Trump, despite what she views as his dishonesty, self-interest and seeming indifference to others� suffering. Biden has her vote.

�We�re a community that values caring for each other,� she said.

She says that working for Rock the Vote has given her a better understanding of voting hurdles, and an even deeper commitment to voting rights.

�Voting is the basis for democracy,� Buitendorp said.  �Taking that on to 91���әs campus is the most direct way that I can make sure my community is able to vote, is educated on what is on their ballot and is energized to show up on election day.�

Kieran Clark

Kieran Clark �21 knows he�s voting for a candidate who won�t win.

He wishes more people would vote for people outside of America�s two dominant political parties.

The Arab Studies major sees many flaws in Trump, including hasty foreign policy decisions. He�s also skeptical of Biden, and worries that �he�s gone more and more left in this election.�

Clark is unaffiliated but identifies as Libertarian. He plans to vote for Libertarian presidential candidate Jo Jorgensen, who he views as highly qualified, but he�s unimpressed by the party�s vice-presidential nominee, Spike Cohen, �a complete joke.�

Clark wants people to take Libertarianism concepts, such as a smaller government and reforming the criminal justice system, seriously.

�We�re trying to keep young people informed,� Clark said. �One big issue is free speech. There are people who don�t want to hear a conservative or Libertarian point of view and it�s getting worse.�

Clark believes most 91���� students and faculty disagree with many of his political views, but thinks they could find common ground if the country wasn�t so polarized.

�I think of Libertarianism as trusting human dignity,� Clark said. �Neither party trusts people to be good or strive to do good things on their own. I�d like to see us move to a multi-party country.

�I wish it could be more like going to the market�if you don�t like this brand, here are a few others to choose from,� Clark said. �Right now, I feel like we have two very bad options, and there�s no getting around them.�

Isabel Padalecki �22

Isabel Padalecki doesn�t have great hopes that this election will bring on the revolutionary changes she believes America needs to solve its racial, social and economic inequities.

She voted for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary. She�s no fan of Biden and what she sees as his long tenure of maintaining a political status quo. But she likes Trump far less, so Biden will get her vote.

�I think Donald Trump has stretched the boundaries of a Democratic foundation,� Padalecki said. �But that�s not to imply that America before Donald Trump was progressive�it wasn�t.�

Padalecki, president of 91���әs chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, doesn�t see reform coming at the ballot box. She said it will only happen when America adopts policies and a tax system that redistributes wealth to dismantle the gaps between the richest and poorest.

She said she and her friends are working toward that goal, by raising money and redistributing wealth to people who�ve been downtrodden by systemic racism in the criminal justice system, housing and healthcare. That includes donating to local bail funds for incarcerated people and protestors who�ve been arrested.

Padalecki, from Wake Forest, North Carolina, has a double major in history and gender and sexuality studies. She says America has to reckon with its history of violence against Indigenous and enslaved Black people that set the foundation for its capitalist society. She believes Republican and Democratic administrations have been complicit in ongoing oppression.

�I hope Donald Trump doesn�t win and I�ll use my vote against him,� she said. �But I don�t think Biden will solve any foundational issues.�