HONOLULU — Young voters could play a crucial role in deciding America’s next president. But as the new school year begins at the University of Hawaii at Manoa on Nov. 5, there is little sign of enthusiasm among young voters.
Most students who spoke to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser at the UH Campus Center on Tuesday said they had no interest in voting and were not interested in the campaigns of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump or the issues they addressed.
“I was never really interested in politics,” said Maiko Santiago, an 18-year-old first-year botany student from Kaneohe.
In a typical mood that other UH students also reflected, Santiago said, “I don’t have much time to focus on these things.”
Chloe Blakeley – a 21-year-old senior minoring in sociology and political science – is registered as a Republican in her home state of Colorado and prefers Trump to Harris. Asked if she looks forward to voting for Trump as president again, Blakeley said, “Not enthusiastically. No.” But she called Trump “the lesser of two evils.”
Sonnie DuVall and Lawrence Coch are both 19-year-old sophomores studying business. Their interest in business and Trump’s business background – along with their family’s military service – made them want to make sure their first vote for Trump counts.
Alexis Garcia, an 18-year-old freshman from Whittier, California, studying marine biology at the University of Hawaii, said she was hesitant about voting for Harris: “I just prefer her to Donald Trump.”
Comparing her uncle and aunt, who live on Oahu, and her grandmother from California, who helped her move into the UH dorms, Garcia said, “My family has a more democratic viewpoint than I do.”
Although Garcia and other first-time voters are not overly enthusiastic about their choice, they said they are still eager to cast their first vote for a U.S. president.
“I really want to vote,” she said.
But David Gilgallon, a 19-year-old sophomore from San Francisco studying marine biology at UH, said like other UH students, he has no great passion for either Trump or Harris.
“I’m definitely undecided,” Gilgallon said. “I need to do more research.”
Overall, voter fatigue remains a recurring problem in Hawaii.
In the primary elections on August 10, 839,618 people registered to vote. But only 32.3 percent of them – 271,345 – actually made the effort to cast their vote.
The showdown between Trump and Harris in the general election on November 5 could still see high voter turnout in Hawaii.
In the 2020 presidential election between Trump and President Joe Biden, 69.6 percent of Hawaii’s 832,466 registered voters cast 579,784 votes.
Just a few months earlier, in the August 2020 primary election, 795,248 people registered to vote and 51.2 percent of them cast 407,190 votes.
A 2023 poll by the Pacific Resource Partnership, the political arm of the Hawaii Carpenters Union, found that voter fatigue in Hawaii was highest among 18- to 34-year-olds, and 23 percent of them were not registered to vote.
25 percent of registered voters cast their votes irregularly or not at all.
On the other hand, 97 percent of residents aged 65 and over were registered to vote and 63 percent participated in all primary and general elections.
The consistent turnout of older voters brings them excessive attention from candidates and a greater focus on their issues, which is sometimes a disappointment to younger political voters.
Students in UH lecturer Jay Stout’s public speaking courses are passionate about issues such as climate change, sustainability and environmental protection, which sometimes lead to healthy debates in Stout’s classroom.
“We get to see both sides of the political spectrum, both liberal and conservative perspectives,” he said.
Of the UH students who plan to vote, several told the Star-Advertiser that it was important to them to be counted – like Kaden Janc, a 20-year-old third-year student from San Diego who is a first-time presidential candidate and studying natural resources management. He is registered as a Democrat and plans to vote for Harris over Trump, but with little enthusiasm.
“I’m not happy with either,” Janc said. “But she’s better.”
Politics has divided his family in Southern California – Janc described his mother as “more conservative and my father as more liberal.”
That’s why they avoid talking about politics within the family, and Janc has never seen either the Republican or Democratic conventions.
When asked if he was looking forward to voting for president for the first time, Janc simply said, “No.”
Maddy Handshew, an 18-year-old freshman from Seattle studying marine biology at the University of Hawaii, also hasn’t seen the conventions, but said, “A lot of girls my age want to vote.”
Some of them like Harris’ promise to restore abortion rights across the country.
For Handshew, not voting is a decision.
Childhood friends Ravenna Laktonen and Jazlynn Campbell met as sixth graders in Virginia while growing up in military families.
They took separate, long paths to UH, where they are now both 18-year-old freshmen studying psychology.
Laktonen was from Anchorage, Alaska, and described himself as “black and Alaskan native.” Campbell was from Germany and described himself as “black and Panamanian.”
Neither said Harris’ background – as a woman of Southeast Asian and African-American descent – played a significant role in their support for her.
But Harris’ promise to support reproductive rights means she has their voice.
“This is a big issue for women’s rights,” Laktonen said.
When asked about the discussions in the UH dormitories about the presidential election campaign, Laktonen said: “I notice that most people don’t want to get involved in it. But someone has to say something.”
Kai Vanderschoot, a 21-year-old final year student studying philosophy and political science at UH, may go on to study law or pursue a doctorate in philosophy, and has already voted for Biden in a presidential election.
He describes himself as “liberal-leaning” but is not sure about Harris, especially after watching the two conventions, which he called “pretty ridiculous.” “I didn’t like how frivolous they were. There was nationalist rhetoric on both sides.”
Vanderschoot described voting as necessary, but also unpleasant.
“The only way to change something is to be the change,” he said. “But I hate politics. It’s like watching a car crash and not doing anything about it.”