Each Tuesday in July, The Dispatch will feature stories from young voters who will cast their first ballots for president this November, as well as those from veteran voters remembering their first time voting for president. The general election is set for Nov. 8.
Joshua Bridges, 19
Rising Mississippi State University sophomore and 2015 Columbus High School graduate Joshua Bridges registered to vote last summer. November will bring his first opportunity to cast a ballot in a U.S. presidential general election.
Bridges said, while he does not want to sound negative, he would ask for a different first vote opportunity if he could.
“It seems like you have to pick between the lesser of two evils,” Bridges said of the 2016 presidential candidates.
For him, it’s a tough choice.
The uncertainty Bridges faces, however, does not reflect a lack of education on political issues, though he said he thinks college can be politically isolating.
He said he stays informed on current political issues, but as a biomedical engineering major, schoolwork inhibits his becoming heavily involved in collegiate and local political scenes.
“Some majors are stressful,” Bridges said. “You live for free time. And it’s not that much, but you don’t want to spend it watching the news.”
Bridges said politicians need to reach out to young voters and address issues they find important if those politicians want to encourage young people to voice their opinions.
“If I’m seeing stuff that’s happening in Syria, and that’s what I’m questioning. And I want that to be answered, and you’re answering something else, [I] feel like [I’m] not important,” Bridges said. “Like my views don’t line up with yours.”
Similar sentiments echo in other issues of significance for Bridges.
“[Politicians] need to come to colleges more and talk about issues that affect us like Black Lives Matter and police brutality,” Bridges said. “Bring up stuff like that, that people could relate to, that could affect them in the near future.”
Issues resonating with Bridges include U.S. involvement in foreign activities, transparency of political figures, immigration, generalized labeling of people and groups and most prominently, Black Lives Matter.
Bridges, an African American, stresses the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement, indicating the prevalence of systemic lapses in justice and lack of acknowledgment of certain plights of black Americans.
“Even if it’s not somebody getting killed, you’re seeing people getting mistreated. It’s not limited to black people, but in most cases it is,” Bridges said. “It hits us harder because we already feel like we’re being discriminated against. You want to see a politician talk about it, but when they do, there’s always something [masking the root of the problem].”
“When you keep finding out [situations of discrimination and mistreatment weren’t] answered, it makes you angry, and it makes you want to know why,” Bridges added. “When people aren’t explaining why or saying anything is wrong, you feel like you’re being disrespected or looked down upon.”
Bridges’ family members and friends most notably influence his political ideology because “it’s time you spend with them that lets you know who you are,” he said.
He said his older family members promote social awareness and stress community involvement.
“I used to watch the news with my grandmother when I was little because I was bored, and it always kept me up to date,” Bridges said. “My Uncle Robert always told me to stay aware, even if it’s only for 10 minutes, make sure you know what’s going on in the world because you’re a part of it.”
Bridges also credits his high school government teacher with informing him of the political process and prompting debate.
Bridges believes in voting for a political candidate who aligns with his ideology.
Unfortunately for Bridges, he’s having trouble determining who that candidate might be.
He said, at this point in the presidential race, he’s not certain if he will vote come November, because he does not want to vote for someone in whom he does not have confidence.
Bridges points out inferences can always be pulled from statistics, and he said a lull in voter participation could represent feelings of non-representation of misrepresentation for many people.
Bridges suggests silence is action.
“Not voting has just as much of a voice as voting,” Bridges said. “It’s better to not vote, than to vote for someone you don’t want to.”
Fred Bell, 79
Fred Bell of Columbus became eligible to vote in 1957. His first presidential election as a voter would have been the 1960 election between Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard Nixon. However, an unexpected circumstance kept Bell out of the polls that Nov. 8.
“My daughter was born the day John Kennedy was elected president,” Bell said. “And that’s the only year I failed to vote in a presidential election.”
Bell voted the next chance he got, in 1964. That year he cast his ballot for Republican Barry Goldwater, the senator from Arizona.
“I’ve always been a conservative, and I’ve always voted Republican in national elections,” Bell said.
Although Goldwater suffered a dramatic loss to incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson that year, 1964 marked the first time in the 20th century Mississippi’s electoral votes backed a Republican candidate, indicating the shifts in party ideologies which had been occurring during prior decades.
Bell considers it hard to determine the characters of national politicians because those figures are often targeting a much larger constituency and may seem less relatable. So, while he votes in local and state elections by “character,” he said he often votes at the national level by party.
“I’m a firm believer that everyone should vote,” said the former Columbus city councilman who served from 1989 to 1997.
Bell thinks each citizen should choose and back the candidate who most closely aligns with his or her ideology.
“Choose a candidate you can support and back them,” Bell said. “Don’t go along just to get along. Know what your candidate stands for, and if they stand for your beliefs, vote for them.”
Bell said he admires people who do not waiver from their judgments.
“You vote your convictions,” Bell said. “What I think is right is to treat people right.”
Bell values community involvement and volunteerism, and said “charity starts at home.”
Therefore, he has supported candidates with personable characters and who promote limited involvement from the federal government, allowing individuals, rather than a charitable government, to give back to local communities.
Bell has lived in Columbus 51 years. He is an avid volunteer for local organizations including Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle and United Way and serves as a deacon of Grace Baptist Church.
Bell said he strongly believes the United States and the nation’s elected officials should embody “Christian values” of love, honesty, compassion and respect for the laws.
“You’re supposed to be honest and truthful and do what’s right. When you’re an elected official, you’re supposed to be above reproach,” Bell said. “An elected official nationally should be just like local. They should take care of the population that they serve.”
Bell said national politics interest him because happenings across the country ultimately affect the city of Columbus.
He suggests voters must educate themselves on prominent social and economic issues, determining which issues they find important and which candidate addresses those issues.
“I think you need to vote for the person you feel in your own mind and heart that’s gonna be best for the country,” he said.
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