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People across the country will head to the polls to cast their vote this Election Day. Some have been voting for years, but for others this election marks their first voting experience. KSMU’s Melanie Foehrweiser spoke to one first-time voter and has this report.
Whitney Boyts is a senior at Parkview High School in Springfield. She’ll be exercising her right to vote for the first time this Election Day, and believes that voting is an important part of American society.
“I think it’s your civil duty honestly. Just because you’re contributing to who is running the country and you really have no right…like a lot of people who don’t vote complain about the government all the time, but they don’t have the right to complain about it because they don’t vote anyway.”
Boyts also thinks it’s important for young people to vote in order to have a say in their future.
“A lot of debates and stuff are like about schools and stuff and a lot of them about…like I’ve heard a lot about student loans and colleges and stuff and we should really think about that.”
Following politics was something Boyts did before she was old enough to vote, and she was sure to get all the information she could to prepare for her first election.
“My family is very politically informed you could say, so I knew about each candidate and what they believed in and stood for, and so I really did my research on who I wanted to be president.”
Election Day will be a special one for Boyts. Not only will she be voting for the first time, it is also her 18th birthday.
For KSMU News, I’m Melanie Foehrweiser.