ORONO, Maine — With less than a week left until the 2020 general election, doors will be open Thursday and Friday at the Orono Town Office for voters who want to cast their ballots early in person. The University of Maine is just a couple of minutes away—which means college students (many of whom are voting for the first time for a presidential candidate) will likely be taking part.
A glance at the organizations that make up the university's student body is an indication that these students may be from the same generation, but they also have varying views regarding politics. An underlying thread, though, seems to be frustration with a polarized, two party political system—and a belief that this election is a very important one.
Anna Zmistowski, a senior, is the chair of the UMaine College Republicans and is from Veazie. She says some of the issues she cares most about are first amendment rights (like protecting freedom of speech), as well as presentation of the truth, saying there is misinformation on "both sides". She also says this is a "huge election" in her opinion, saying it's "a determiner of where we’re heading as a country."
Zmistowski says she already cast her ballot absentee, since she is working on Election Day — but her vote didn't entirely follow party lines. She voted for Joe Biden for president, as well as Susan Collins for senator and Dale Crafts for U.S. House representative, noting the decision to vote for Biden was not one she took lightly. To her, this election encapsulates issues with the two party political system.
"It's gotten us to a point where you can only choose either, or," Zmistowski told NEWS CENTER Maine exasperatedly. Chuckling, she explained she can't quite call either presidential candidate "my guy."
"They're just not representative of younger voters. I would have to say neither of them are really representative myself," Zmistowski said. It's why she says she strays from most of her UMaine College Republicans peers by supporting ranked-choice voting.
Shea Justice, a sophomore, is another Republican on campus. He says he will definitely be voting for President Donald Trump. He also expressed support for Max Linn but says he's undecided when it comes to Jared Golden versus Dale Crafts. Justice says the main things that drive his politics are his faith (including an anti-abortion stance), as well as a desire to have stricter immigration policies. He says he will be voting on Election Day.
"I think if (Trump) doesn’t get reelected, it could spell the end for conservatism in this country," Justice expressed to NEWS CENTER Maine.
Junior Virginia Hugo-Vidal is the vice president of the UMaine College Democrats. She says she has already filled out her absentee ballot and will be dropping it off at the town office. She is voting blue and says issues she thinks should be prioritized are the environment, taxes to better fund schools, the Supreme Court, and immigration to help improve declining birth rates in our state.
Hugo-Vidal was born and raised in Buxton. She says the coronavirus pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement have been "rally cries"— but says the polarization of politics is still disheartening.
"You sort of are forced to give up some of your views and opinions for the greater good, which in some cases is okay — but that’s not how a solid, representative democracy should work," Hugo-Vidal said.
Mark Brewer, a professor of political science at the university, says students have always wanted to see represented third parties — but he thinks the steps to actually get there are a lot more complicated than they may seem at surface level.
"I get the appeal of it, but I think making it happen would require some pretty significant institutional changes," Brewer admitted to NEWS CENTER Maine via Zoom. "The rules of the game and American politics are heavily stacked in favor of the two-party system."
Brewer says something he has noticed in this generation of students has been a tendency to generally agree on certain issues like climate change and racial justice, regardless of political affiliation. For some students, that means there's hope on the horizon.
"I think once you get down to a person-to-person level, it’s a lot less partisan. I think a lot of partisanship is for show," Hugo-Vidal said.
"It's about having each person want to hear the other side," Zmistowski expressed. "We need to cultivate a greater ability to listen to one another and not speak."
Early in-person voting is happening at the Orono Town Office on October 29 and 30, 2020 from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.