This year’s presidential election will go down in history. A divided nation had to vote between President Donald Trump or Former Vice President Joe Biden all while there is a pandemic taking place. With a voter turnout of 75% and 5.54 million ballots casted leading this year’s election to be the highest voter turnout since the 2016 election. 

There were some first-time voters at Solon High School that had the chance to be a part of the 75%. There were many different ways to vote such as mailing in ballots, voting early or voting in person. As a first-time voter, there are steps that need to be taken to vote. First, citizens must register to vote, find the available polling place, identify who is on the ballot, gather IDs and other voting materials then finally vote.

“[The process of registering was] super easy,” Kailey Gielink, a first-time voter and senior at SHS said. “I had Mr. Ashkettle last year, and he was super dedicated to ensuring that everyone who could [vote] had the opportunity to register.” 

Bryan Ashkettle, a history teacher at SHS, had sign-up sheets that were given to students who were the age of 18 or about to turn 18 last year which was then mailed off to complete the registration process for voting. 

“Mr. Ashkettle just gave me a form to fill out junior year,” said Steda Eugene, a first-time voter. “And it asked for address, age, etc. and I just gave it back to him, and he mailed it.” 

Eugene and Gielink both registered through the school, but Kayla Rothschild, a senior, only had to fill out a sheet that was given to her by her parents and said it was far from difficult. 

Rothschild and Gielink voted by mail at home and Eugene by the polls. They all had different expectations on their first-time voting.

Since Eugene went in person, she expected the lines to be short at the polls. 

“It was a terribly long line, and I stood in the cold for an hour and 20 minutes,” she said. “I expected it to be a short line, and that I could just walk in and vote with my own little booth.”

However, Gielink said she was unsure on how she should vote. 

“I honestly was a little hesitant to vote by mail or in person,” she said. “And I wasn’t completely sure who some of the appellate courts and such even were.”

That led Gielink to vote absentee, which gave her time to research who the candidates were which then gave her more confidence in who she was voting for. 

Being able to research the candidates before voting is an advantage, but what might worry some new voters is being able to understand the ballot.

“It literally feels like bubbling in a multiple choice question test,” Eugene said. “Each section had a president, judges, issues, etc. and you just had to fill in whatever one you chose.”

Rothschild also said it was self-explanatory. 

The election this year reached out to many new and returning voters by using many media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat and Tik Tok. Although, that can lead new and first-time voters intimidated by the process and not knowing who to vote for. 

“This election especially, new voters were really encouraged to vote,” Rothschild said.  “I wasn’t intimidated by the process, but it could be different for in-person voting. . . just seeing everyone else and voting too.” 

Eugene went in-person voting and said that she believed it depends on the person if they’re intimidated by the process. 

“There were a lot of people there and some people might be overwhelmed with it,” Eugene said. “But other than that you feel a sense of relief when you finish.

According to Rothschild and Eugene, the voting process is not meant to make voters feel intimidated. After Gielink dropped off her ballot she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. 

“Once I officially dropped off my ballot at the board of elections I was so excited I was like oh my gosh! I just voted! I did that!” Gielink said. “It was really empowering for me, I felt like I had formally contributed to democracy and it felt so cool.”

After completing the voting process, the three voters said that they all felt that their vote had contributed to the government and felt included in their country’s future. 

“It felt good knowing I participated in something that affects the whole country,” Rothschild said. “Young voters were encouraged to vote because we are the future.”