Voting for the 2024 presidential election begins in a little over a month. For some students, the choice seems to be clear, while others are still deciding which candidate’s morals best align with their own. This year’s presidential race started out with 23 candidates, and it dwindled down as the race picked up momentum. Currently, the most prominent presidential candidates are Kamala Harris for the Democratic Party, Donald Trump for the Republican Party, Jill Stein for the Green Party, Chase Oliver for the Libertarian Party, and Cornel West as an independent candidate.

President Biden and former President Trump were initially the presumptive candidates for their respective parties. However, Biden drew widespread criticism for his performance at the presidential debate on June, 27. Many deemed the president unfit for reelection and questioned his cognitive skills. While some reiterated their commitment to Biden, others pleaded with the president to drop out of the race.

Soon after the debate on July 13, there was an assassination attempt on Trump at one of his campaign rallies in Butler County, Pennsylvania. The bullet grazed Trump’s ear, but he was otherwise unharmed. The suspect was killed at the scene.

On July 21, Biden announced his decision to end his reelection campaign on X, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris.

“And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” said Biden.

The first presidential debate between Trump and Harris was held on Sept. 10. The nation was given the opportunity to reassess their perspectives on the candidates. “The Vanguard” asked students for their opinions following this debate.

“This election comes down to facts versus emotions,” said Will Palacios, a junior majoring in Biology. “It seems one side is calm and makes intellectual arguments. The other side, I would say the left, hears something they don’t like and gets riled up.”

“I want an honest and fair election because 2020 still feels shady to me,” said William Roberson, a junior majoring in geology. “My family had the best quality of living under Trump. I would have preferred RFK Jr., though. I was interested in his proposal to abolish the FBI.”

“Kamala Harris wasn’t my go-to choice, especially on Palestine or police reform, but I think she has a better headspace,” said Snow Majors, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering. “I think she will make those issues easier to fight for. I’m not sure that Trump has any plans.”

“I thought the last debate was bad. It should’ve focused on policy, not personal attacks,” said KC Crusoe, a junior majoring in political science.

Following this debate, there was another assassination attempt on Trump at his international gulf club in West Palm Beach, Florida. The suspect was found with a rifle and is believed to have been aiming at Trump, who escaped unharmed. Before this second attempt, President Gerald Ford was the only president to survive two assassination attempts on his life.

The vice presidential debate is expected to take place on Tuesday, Oct. 1, a month and four days prior to election day. Many are urging citizens to vote and register if they have not already done so. Among those encouraging people to vote are celebrities and even popular social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat.

As of Sep. 4, about 18% of American voters are undecided according to a New York Times article by David Leonhardt.

In order to gauge South’s impact on the polls, “The Vanguard” sent out a survey. Of the 65 students polled, 89.2% of respondents are planning to vote. However, only 81.5% of respondents reported that they were registered to vote.

Only 36.9% of the students polled said that they were confident in the current presidential candidates. Of those who plan to vote, 26.6% of respondents were fully confident in the candidate of their choice, and 31.3% of respondents were somewhat confident. Reflecting this data, Sabel Wilkinson, a freshman majoring in Animation, said, “This election is between a dictator and someone who isn’t really liked but isn’t disliked either. It’s about the lesser of two evils.”

Prior to Biden’s exit from the campaign, Secretary of Education Miguel A. Cardona sent out an email reassuring that the Biden-Harris administration would follow through with its goal of providing student debt relief. “We will continue to put the needs of students and borrowers first, help borrowers access the support and resources they need, and make the promise of higher education a reality for more American families,” said Cardona.

While Harris has advocated for student loan forgiveness under Biden’s administration, she has yet to elaborate on whether or not she would further implement Biden’s vision if elected. It is unclear what her policies are but some remain hopeful.

Medora Lee, journalist at USA Today, addressed Harris’ stance on student loan forgiveness, referencing a quote from Justin Begley, an economist at Moody’s Analytics.

“Now that the spigot for broad student loan forgiveness has been opened by the Biden administration, it would make little sense for Harris to tighten it back up, particularly when she is attempting to draw the support of young voters, many of whom are college educated with student debt,” said Begley.

“This is one of the most important elections. We have to show what side of history we want to be on.”

KC Crusoe

The prospect of student loan forgiveness under the Harris administration is vague; however, it is clear that Trump would not attempt to implement such aid in a second term.

Last year, when the Supreme Court struck down Biden’s universal debt relief plan, Trump said, “Yesterday, the Supreme Court also ruled that President Biden is not allowed to wipe out hundreds and hundreds of billions, probably trillions, of dollars in student loan debt, which would have been very unfair to the millions and millions of people who have paid their debt through hard work and diligence.”

The outcome of the election is expected to have significant consequences for the future of the country. A poll conducted by the Associated Press in August found that a majority of American adults believe that democracy itself is on the ballot. To register to vote, visit vote.gov for more information.

“This is one of the most important elections,” said Crusoe. “We have to show what side of history we want to be on.”