‘Excited, nervous, anxious’: First-time voters share their thoughts and feelings leading up to the election

Featured photo: First-time voters Marissa Bewry, Lily Oatis and Maria Mendez-Mungaray spoke to TCB about the issues that are most important to them, the candidates they’re excited about and what it means to be a youth voter. (file photo)

In North Carolina, youth voters are projected to influence the outcome of the presidential race. That’s according to data analyzed by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, CIRCLE’s, Youth Electoral Significance Index at Tufts University.

And locally, that’s what’s driving young, first-time voters to the polls this November.

“I feel like for most young people, the presidential race is the one they are most interested in,” said Lily Oatis, a 19-year-old Greensboro resident. “But I’m also interested in learning about the local races as well.”

In the leadup to this year’s election, TCB spoke to three first-time voters who expressed the issues that are most important to them, what it’s like voting as part of Generation Z and which candidates they are gravitating towards.

Marissa Bewry

21 years old, student at UNC Chapel Hill, will cast her ballot in Guilford County

Marissa Bewry has been looking forward to the election this November for a long time.

“I’ve always been really interested in voting,” Bewry said. “I’m a strong advocate for voter advocacy and I’ve been convincing people around me to vote and have been helping them get registered.”

Bewry, who lives in Greensboro but attends school at UNC Chapel Hill, said that she voted in the last midterm elections but that this will be her first time casting a vote for president. As a registered Democrat, Bewry said that she was planning on voting for Joe Biden come November, but when Kamala Harris became the nominee, she was even more excited.

“For a lot of reasons, I relate to her,” said Bewry, who is a Black woman. “I’m excited to finally be represented in office in a way that can propel the country forward.”

But that doesn’t mean that she thinks Harris is perfect. Like many young voters, Bewry said that there are still things she’d like for Harris to speak out on.

“I think there are things that the left is ignoring,” Bewry said. “Namely, the genocide in Palestine. But there are issues that I think if Trump becomes president, and Project 2025 is initiated, I would be afraid for the state of my rights in this country.”

According to data collected by the Pew Research Center, younger voters are more likely to sympathize with Palestinians compared to older Americans; they’re also more likely to oppose the sending of US military aid to Israel.

In addition to the rights of Palestinians, Bewry said she’s concerned about reproductive rights, police brutality, systemic racism, environmental protections and censorship in schools. She’s also keeping an eye on the ways in which politics has become seemingly more divided in recent years.

“The proliferation of hate speech, racism and misogyny has been more rampant than ever before,” she said. “You can see that in the way they talk about Kamala.”

As a young voter, Bewry said that prior to Kamala Harris becoming the presidential nominee, there was a lot of resignation within her demographic.

“There’s been a lot of dissatisfaction with the system as a whole,” she said.

But with Harris’s marketing towards her generation — namely the use of the “brat” aesthetic and her use of TikTok — Bewry said that she thinks more young voters are getting involved. Still, she understands that hype on social media doesn’t necessarily translate to votes. She points to 2020 when people were supportive of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“I felt like it was more performative,” she said. “I’m curious to see if this interest in politics and this political activeness will continue.”

Lily Oatis

19 years old, works in Greensboro

Greensboro resident Lily Oatis is concerned about the economy. She’s worried about making a living, inflation and eventually, being able to buy a home.

“Everything is progressively getting more unaffordable,” Oatis said. 

As an employee at a local nonprofit that helps bring resources to impoverished communities, she said that the burden of rising costs is something she sees everyday.

“The worry comes from things progressively getting out of hand,” she said.

While Oatis didn’t disclose who she is going to vote for, she mentioned the importance of voting rights and the issue of gerrymandering as topics she’s concerned about.

“It makes me realize how many systems are in place to suppress people’s votes,” Oatis said. “And to make sure people don’t vote in certain ways.”

Despite the challenges, Oatis said that exercising one’s right to vote is one of the most important rights there is.

“People have died for our rights,” said Oatis, a young Black woman. “So it comes with a certain obligation to be informed and let that vote not be in vain. Tomorrow, that right could be taken away so we need to not take it for granted.”

In terms of getting other people involved, Oatis said she’s been talking to people about how to vote, sending them information and having conversations with them about how “their vote will affect certain areas in their lives.”

She also said she sees a lot of her peers getting information online from social media like Instagram, TikTok and Youtube. Rather than reading traditional news sources, she says young voters will listen to celebrities or influencers talk about the candidates they are excited about.

“For young people, it’s turned into a one-on-one connection with a celebrity who has the same ideology who they respect,” she said.

As far as how she’s voting, Oatis said she’s ready. 

“I’m very confident in what I stand for,” said Oatis, who is casting a vote in a general election for the first time. “When I go into the ballot box, I’m being firm. If the person I vote for doesn’t win, I’m still going to continue the work that I’m doing because I believe so heavily that voting is important.”

She also noted that it’s important for candidates to focus on younger voters, too.

“They represent us as well,” she said. “Because young people can become future politicians, leaders, they do need guidance. So if you care about the direction of this country…these new younger leaders will be taking over.”

Maria Mendez-Mungaray 

20 years old, lives in Rockingham County

Although this is Maria Mendez-Mungaray’s first time voting, she already knows where she’s going to cast her vote. In fact, she’s been looking forward to this moment since she was registered to vote at the DMV four years ago.

As a second-generation Mexican American, Mendez-Mungaray said that the top issue for her is immigration.

“I’m concerned about immigrants earning their citizenship easier,” she said.

At the moment, Mendez-Mungaray’s mother is living in Mexico; she’s been there for two years now, trying to get residency in the US.

“It’s just a matter of waiting, approval or denial,” she said.

While Mendez-Mungaray was born in the US, she and others like her have family members outside of the country waiting to be reunited with their family.

According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services data, there was a backlog of more than 416,000 citizenship applications in 2023; that number represented a 44-percent decrease from more than 942,000 in 2020. 

Today, immigrants make up about 14 percent of the US population; of that total population, about 23 percent come from Mexico, according to the Pew Research Center.

According to Mendez-Mungaray, her stepmom’s son is a DACA recipient. That’s informing how she votes, too.

“Dreamers can’t vote so I want to put my vote in,” she said.

DACA, otherwise known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is an immigration policy that delays the deportation of undocumented people who were brought to the US as children. They are allowed to stay in the country on renewable two-year terms and get work permits.

For Mendez-Mungaray, voting for Harris is the clear choice.

“I’ve heard that [Trump] is trying to get rid of the DACA program,” she said.

In 2017, former President Donald Trump pushed to repeal the program but was blocked by a Supreme Court ruling. In June 2020, Trump said that he would try to end the program once again, according to the New York Times.

Mendez-Mungaray also likes that Harris comes from an immigrant family like hers. Harris grew up with an Indian mother and a Jamaican father; both immigrated to the United States and met at UC Berkely.

“I feel like we have similarities,” she said. 

In terms of other races beyond the presidential ticket, Mendez-Mungaray said she hasn’t done much research but that she plans on it before Nov. 5. 

“I’m pretty excited,” she said. “I’m nervous, anxious, but I’m sure it’ll be a fun experience.”