By Kaylyn Smith
The 2016 election brought tensions and doubts like no other, leading many to abstain from voting.
Of eight people interviewed at a watch party in Lubbock, only two had cast votes in the 2016 presidential election.
Brian Grannan, Texas Tech University student, is one of those who said he couldn’t vote for either candidate with a good conscience.
“I personally don’t agree with either candidate,” Grannan said. “I would be picking the lesser of two evils.”
Grannan also said the process of registering to vote is inconvenient because he is already registered in the state of Virginia. If the registration process were more convenient, more college students would vote, he said.
The registration process was also inconvenient for Jackie Dupuis, who is from Dallas.
“I honestly don’t have a big enough preference for either candidate to actually go out and register,” Dupuis said.
Dupuis said she would have been much more inclined to vote if one of the candidates would have focused more on issues rather than attacks.
“In all the debates I tried to watch, both candidates talked over each other and nagged on each other,” Dupuis said. “I eventually just turned the debates off because it was so annoying.”
Dupuis said she is ready for this election to be over because she hopes all the hateful comments on social media will die down. She has wanted nothing to do with this year’s election.
Unlike Dupuis and Grannan, Blake Maness does have a preference in the election. He is a Trump supporter, but he didn’t vote this year.
“I didn’t vote because I don’t see my vote mattering that much,” Maness said. “I think it’s insane that a candidate can win the popular vote but still lose the election.”
Maness hopes people will stop disrespecting others’ opinions. He said the election has brought out the worst in many, even his friends.
“I am honestly ready for this circus act to be over,” he said.
Many of those who voted also did so without passion or conviction. Texas Tech student Anthony De-Luna, who voted at the Tech library, walked out unsure of his vote and looking defeated.
“I voted. I had to,” De-Luna said. “I don’t know if I really like it, but I did my civic duty.”
Editor’s Note: Violeta Trevizo contributed to this report.
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