Community Time Postponed
Due to New Hampshire’s status as a swing state, eligible Exonians find their vote can influence the outcome of the upcoming midterm elections.
Local legislature is neither right nor left-leaning, and according to senior and Republican Club co-head Andrew Loevinger, voters can profoundly impact the party in control of New Hampshire government.
“This is a district that has in the past voted for red senators like Kelly Ayotte, but this is also a district of that has been pretty congressionally blue for a long time…I mean, it's really, really borderline,” Loevinger said. “Your vote matters the most probably here of all places.”
“This is a district that has in the past voted for red senators like Kelly Ayotte, but this is also a district of that has been pretty congressionally blue for a long time…I mean, it's really, really borderline,” Loevinger said. “Your vote matters the most probably here of all places.”
Senior and Democratic Club co-head Bryce Morales similarly recognizes the importance of voting. “[New Hampshire] is a swing state, and this congressional district that we're in has flipped back and forth between Republicans and Democrats for the past couple terms. So I think it's absolutely crucial that we do get out and have our say,” Morales said.
Biology Instructor and Republican Club Adviser Townley Chisholm views this as a “critical” election—a valuable chance to revert the mistakes he thinks the Trump administration is making.
Physics Instructor and Republican Club Adviser Michael McLaughlin has a more cynical view of the midterms. No matter what, he is absolutely certain that “the new Senate and Congress will continue to spend money they don’t have.”
Regardless of how Exonians view the impact of voting in the midterm elections, many eligible students have found it difficult to vote. Senior Devin McCabe, a day student from Newcastle, New Hampshire, attempted to register to vote in Exeter only to be denied because of his address. Instead he was told to register in his hometown. “[This] is tough just because I have to try to get to a town hall during the school day, which means I'll have to go probably next Wednesday to register, which is unfortunate because I'm off campus and can't do stuff,” McCabe said.
Some wish that the Academy would encourage students to vote. McCabe thought that the school could specifically send out an email to eligible voters, because when he attempted to register there were only “a handful of people that actually showed up.”
However, others believe that understanding the importance of voting is on the students themselves. Chisholm does not think Exeter has a responsibility to instruct students in politics and believes that “they certainly have tons of opportunities to talk, read and think about politics, if they care to do so.” According to Chisholm, “Students can figure out registration on their own, and should.”
Democratic Club Faculty Adviser Jacquelyne Weatherspoon sees the school allowing for political clubs as Exeter’s way of convincing students to get to the polls. “It's up to the kids to play a part,” she said.
Weatherspoon is particularly hopeful about the political clubs’ future impact on students attending the polls. “I think the Democratic Club will do their part. We've gone over how they plan to get the word out so that is already in the process…so we're doing a lot of work behind the scenes to make sure students get to the polls.”
Indeed, the Democratic Club, along with other student groups, has been organizing phonebanks and trips to the polls since the beginning of fall term. Democratic Club administers weekly phone banks, canvassing and talks with candidates and plans to shuttle students to the polls on Nov. 6 throughout the day, according to Morales.
On the other political end, most of Republican Club’s meetings this term have addressed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the role midterms played in his confirmation. “We talked about how [Kavanaugh] needs to get through before the midterm elections and the implications of the midterm elections and being able to halt Republican policy and such…Just kind of what those implications would be, how it would hinder our red presidency from doing anything else if we don't have the tools,” Loevinger said.
Republican Club co-head Calvin Chai-Onn noted the incongruity of Exonians voting in New Hampshire, since they will not directly feel the impact of the candidates they vote for. “Given that many of us don't actually live in New Hampshire full time and we don't have as much of a stake in New Hampshire…I think many Exonians don't really have much of an incentive to vote,” he said.
Regardless, teachers note that students’ votes will have an impact. “We can't leave it to other people to be a good citizen, and I think one of the fundamental things that someone needs to do is to fulfill their obligations of citizenship,” History Instructor Betty Luther-Hillman said. “And if we want to have a government where the people are choosing their representatives then they need to be part of that decision making.”
Morales sees voting as especially important for young people. “It will impact our futures—whether it's with climate change, access to healthcare or gun violence, these are issues that we're going to be facing for the next couple of decades,” he said. “So, as students, we have to start now and plan long term."