Chantilly students can vote in the 2016 election

Christine Cook, Staff Writer

2016. Another U.S. Presidential Election year. For many Americans this cycle is familiar commotion with the accusatory commercials, news show debates and cold calls from campaign staffers. For some, this is new playing ground. Select seniors from Generation Z will now have the opportunity to vote this November for the next United States President.

“If you don’t vote, you give up your right to complain about the government because if you complain about it and you didn’t vote, you have no right because you gave up your right to vote, so basically you’re complaining for no reason,” senior Hussein Issa said.

However, when it comes to finding the facts behind the issues, it can be tricky in a technology based world where sources may not be as reliable as the voter things they are. The bandwagon effect can lead voters to believing misleading information which can change an election greatly.

“Social media, I don’t think it’s influenced my decision so much because I try to ignore a lot of it,” senior Shana Kushevski said. “If I choose just one news outlet, it’s always going to be biased and I don’t want to have biased information; I want to know everything that’s out there and I want to know everyone’s opinion, so I can draw my own opinion from theirs.”

With an election that has two candidates who couldn’t be more different, voters opinions certainly have no gray area. This election especially, the canvas is black and white for Americans across the country on the candidate they would, or would not, want to see in the Oval Office this upcoming January.

“I would like to see a woman President someday, but I do not like this one in particular just because of the candidates though.” senior Brian Bogert said.

Although there are the two main party nominees, not everyone is planning to pick from either Democrats or Republicans.

“I’m leaning more towards third party [candidate]” Issa said.

Along with the nominees comes differing opinions on the hot domestic and foreign topics the country faces in the present day. For example, immigration, race relations and foreign policy are only a few of the topics that will be discussed during the debate.

“Definitely schooling, like how Bernie Sanders and now Hillary Clinton are now talking about how public colleges will be free and it just reforms when it comes to education. [Also] foreign affairs because that ultimately will affect how we interact with other countries and how they interact with us and how we travel and get jobs,” Issa said.

Ultimately, whatever a voter’s preference may be, it won’t last forever.

“We’ve had bad presidents, we will have bad presidents, the whole point of our system is because if we have a bad president we will continue. I think we can handle four years of a bad President, regardless,” Issa said.