{"id":166971,"date":"2024-11-03T03:13:20","date_gmt":"2024-11-03T03:13:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/03\/weve-had-a-lot-of-good-energy-here-university-students-handed-cookies-for-voting-early-in-michigan\/"},"modified":"2024-11-03T03:13:20","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T03:13:20","slug":"weve-had-a-lot-of-good-energy-here-university-students-handed-cookies-for-voting-early-in-michigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/03\/weve-had-a-lot-of-good-energy-here-university-students-handed-cookies-for-voting-early-in-michigan\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We’ve had a lot of good energy here’: University students handed cookies for voting early in Michigan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"‘We’ve<\/div>


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In the heart of the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus, a cookie is handed out for an early vote.<\/p>\n

Artisanal doughy treats piled with square chocolate chips and cream-coloured cookies with blue icing are laid out in boxes on top of a Harris<\/strong><\/a>\/Walz stand in the main square next to a blue wall of boxes plastered with “students for Harris and Waltz” signs.<\/p>\n

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\n Alec Hughes, co-president of College Democrats at the University of Michigan, says voting has ‘been going great so far’
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“We’ve had a lot of good energy here and because Ann Arbor is such a blue area so much of the obligation falls on us to not just convince students but to actually turn them out to vote,” says Alec Hughes, co-president of College Democrats at the University of Michigan.<\/p>\n

“It’s been going great so far. We’ve had I think, if I had to guess, 15 to 20% on campus that voted early and we’re still five days out from election night.”<\/p>\n

US election latest: Trump predicts what he needs to ‘win the whole ball game’<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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\n \"Students\n <\/div>
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\n Students hand out cookies to early voters
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I trace the stream of students collecting their free cookies to the early voting centre around the corner.<\/p>\n

Through the glass wall of the modern campus building, I see first-time voter Olamiposi move through the voting centre to cast her ballot.<\/p>\n

“It would be really amazing to be able to witness the first female president this country has ever had. So I wanted to be a part of making that happen,” she says, buzzing with excitement.<\/p>\n

Based on early voting data, Gen-Z-led organisation Voters of Tomorrow predicts youth voters are on track to break turnout records.<\/p>\n

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\n \"Students\n <\/div>
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\n Students built a ‘blue wall’ of boxes
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‘It’s important to vote’<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the University of Michigan campus in Flint, early voting is crucial for underprivileged students to have a say.<\/p>\n

“Our students have incredibly complicated lives,” says Dr Jason Kosnoski, professor of political science at the University of Michigan-Flint.<\/p>\n

“They’re non-traditional. They might have families. They might have all sorts of obligations. So, I mean, these are people whose voices usually aren’t heard.”<\/p>\n

Dr Kosnoski says early voting is particularly important for his students as it means they have enough time to cast their ballots.<\/p>\n

“If they were only allowed to vote on one particular day, they may not get the chance to,” he adds.<\/p>\n

Women worry what will happen if Trump wins<\/strong><\/p>\n

Back on the Ann Arbour campus, 20-year-old Elena Mann is happy to vote in a swing state for her first time.<\/p>\n

“New Jersey is very Democratic and so I’m lucky to be from a very Democratic area. But I’m also very happy that I can be in a swing state where my vote will carry a little bit more than New Jersey,” she says.<\/p>\n

But fear for her safety sits underneath her excitement. Like many other women on campus she’s worried about what will happen if Donald Trump<\/strong><\/a> wins.<\/p>\n

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Arab-American vote key to Michigan? <\/span>
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Is there a fear around criticising Mr Trump? She is the third student I speak to who alludes to Mr Trump without mentioning his name.<\/p>\n

“I would definitely say so,” she responds.<\/p>\n

“In areas where you don’t know what people’s opinions are – among friends, of course it’s a different story – but just out and about I would feel a little bit uncomfortable about it. You don’t know how they will react.”<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong>
US election poll tracker: Who is favourite to win?<\/strong><\/a>
Your ultimate guide to the US election<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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\n \"Supporters\n <\/div>
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\n Supporters of Mr Trump at the local bar
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‘I feel compelled to vote’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Students are pouring into nearby bar Good Time Charley’s to start their night. Among them are Trump supporters having a quick drink – young men who work in Michigan’s<\/strong><\/a> vital automobile industry and are banking on the former president to fix the economy.<\/p>\n

There is no visible conflict with the enthusiastic young Democrats around them, just a feeling of contempt for the status quo and a need to stop the continuation of a Biden administration through Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n

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\n Two roommates playing beer pong – one supports Mr Trump while the other is undecided
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“This year I am compelled to vote for Trump,” says autobody technician Joseph Michael Grant.<\/p>\n

“I turned 18 and I didn’t feel compelled to vote. I am 22 now and I feel compelled to vote.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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In the heart of the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus, a cookie is handed out for an early vote. Artisanal doughy treats piled with square chocolate chips and cream-coloured cookies with blue icing are laid out in boxes on top of a Harris\/Walz stand in the main square next to a blue wall of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/11\/768x432\/skynews-michigan-university-of-michigan_6737201.jpg?20241102233544","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[38715,1402,2988,1551,11136,3416,102956,3928,16854,2866,17132],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166971"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166971"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":166973,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166971\/revisions\/166973"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}