Race to the Polling Place (or Not)

CLAUDIA AVALOS, 22, of Sun Valley, senior biology major at Cal State Northridge

My family moved to the United States from El Salvador when I was 7. I became a citizen a year ago. This is going to be my first time voting so I’m real excited. I want to make my vote count.

I decided to become a citizen when I saw that there was a need for me to become more involved in the political system. I became a permanent resident when I was 16 and then had to wait five years [because of INS rules].

My father is going to vote in the coming election; this is his first election also. He became a permanent resident about seven years ago and is now a citizen.

My mother doesn’t speak English. Although she knew the answers, she couldn’t take the English test for citizenship and she was very disappointed.

The members of my family who became citizens want to vote because we saw more laws coming up that were hurting immigrants. Other laws could come out against permanent residents who don’t have citizenship and we want to do what we can to prevent that.

I got a lot of scholarship offers that required recipients to be U.S. citizens and I wasn’t a citizen yet. Even thought I met all of the other criteria, I couldn’t receive the scholarships. Now I want to apply for medical school and I think it will be an advantage to be a citizen.

I think with all the propositions coming up and the legislation that’s being passed, it’s very important that people vote. When people are citizens and don’t vote, that’s a really big mistake.

I have friends who are [undocumented] immigrants and I have friends who are citizens. The immigrants who aren’t legally in this country are striving to make a better life. They say, “I wish I could vote, I wish we could change things around.” Most of my friends who are citizens vote. Those who don’t say, “What for? My vote really won’t count.” Or they don’t care.

Young people are getting tired of being pushed around by legislation and propositions like 187 which take away their rights. A lot of these young people are high school students who are soon going to turn 18 and become active voters. They want to make their vote count and their opinions heard.

Many of these youth are a source of motivation for the parents. They inform their parents of the importance of becoming U.S. citizens. Those who are already citizens, who head to the polls and become active voters, realize that they have to learn to make the right decisions from the beginning of their voter lives, and not let anyone else make decisions for them.

‘I’m Just Lazy’

MARC TISHERMAN, 19, of Montebello, second-year business student at Cal State Long Beach and manager of a restaurant

I am not registered to vote. One reason is I guess I’m just lazy. I may register when I’m older. I like the way Clinton has run the country for the past four years. It looks like Clinton is gonna win the election so I don’t think my vote would matter anyway.

I don’t like Bob Dole. Like Tupac Shakur said [in “How Do You Want It?”], “You’re too old to understand the way the game’s told.”

My mom is half Filipino and half Spanish. I got into Cal State Long Beach because of affirmative action. It kept me off the street. Without it I’d probably be going to a junior college and not too serious about it. I’d probably be hanging out with the homies. Proposition 209 is the issue that concerns me most. I hope it doesn’t pass.

My mom votes. She doesn’t care if I vote or not.

By the next presidential election, I’ll be ready to vote. I’ll be more mature and more aware of the issues and informed about the candidates and the propositions. And I think my vote will have more weight next election because if Clinton wins this time, he won’t be able to run again.

My friends are lazy like me in that they know that Bill’s gonna win so they don’t bother to go register and go through all the hassle like signing up and reading up on the issues and candidates. I haven’t really had any opportunity to sign up that would be convenient for me.

I think it’s better to be informed so that you know what you’re voting about. It’s good that we have a system where you can vote on issues you want to vote on. Not everybody cares about every single issue.