Democratic youth express anxiety over election day

November 6, 2020

Jennifer Scholl

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. --- Young female voters across the country are feeling a lot of anxiety and stress about the current US Presidential Election. Interviewed on Instagram, they talk about their experiences and current stress as they try to maintain hopeful outlooks about the future.

Andrea Prest is a registered Democrat and Chicago native. Prest voted in State College, PA this year. “As of right now I’m staying hopeful, but I’m also a little worried of how close it’s become,” says Prest.

The election results are still not yet final, mail-in ballots continue to be counted in many states and the numbers show that either candidate could win.

Angelica Hunt, also voted in State College as a registered Democrat. She is feeling very similar to Prest. “I feel pretty concerned about the current standings in the presidential election, particularly with the fact that the electoral college is very tied up right now,” says Hunt.

“The fate of the election looks to be up to a few key states but it seems as if it could go either way at this point,” Hunt said.

As of now, Pennsylvania is among one of the states still up in the air. Catalina Barroso is a student at Temple University registered Democrat and voted in Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state.

Like Hunt, Barroso expressed her feelings towards the current standings “I feel very uneasy and stressed,” she said. “I haven’t been doing any school work because I just can't bring myself to focus on it.”

Jackie Galang, a Democrat in Pennsylvania says “I've been checking them periodically throughout the day. I'm anxious to see what the result is, especially because it's so close and there's no idea when the results will be final.” 

Like Galang, Madeline Burk says she’s anxious, but is hopeful. Burk is also a registered Democrat in Pennsylvania.

“I feel anxious and frustrated, but there’s a bit of hope in there,” says Burk. “I just hope that everyone who is in danger of being attacked or injured by people rioting over the election stays safe,” she says. “The only thing I think we can do is to take preventative measures and protect everyone we can.”

Pennsylvania voters are feeling the pressure due to the unknown future. However, this feeling is mutual in other states as well. Nicolette Guerrero is registered as an Independent from El Paso, Texas and like her peers from Pennsylvania, she feels the pressure.

“I’m really scared. It seems to look good for Biden, but there’s always room for things to go wrong just like in the 2016 election when we thought Clinton would win,” she said. “I’m worried that Trump is pushing this country off an edge, but hopefully Biden can pull us back if he gets elected.”

Unlike others, Emma Paquette, a New York City native and registered Democrat says she’s not surprised by the results. 

“I would say stressed but probably less stressed than my peers,” she says “Also not particularly surprised, although I think that part of the reason that I’m not surprised is that the current polls are what I expected to happen, and I’m not sure a lot of my peers expected the same.”