By Andrea Barbe
Just a few blocks southeast of the UNO campus, young voters turned up in record numbers to cast their ballot in the 2008 election.
Central Presbyterian Church, located on 726 S. 55th St., saw an increase of voters under the age of 30 this year, said a voting staffer.
“This is my first time voting,” said UNO freshman Gage Maul. “My parents influenced me a lot to vote.”
Others, like 28-year-old Omaha Public Schools teacher Aaron Boloi, are seasoned veterans come election time.
“I’ve voted in every election since turning 18,” Boldi said.
“America is coming to a turning point where if we don’t make the right choice, there’s going to be irrefutable damage.”
Opinion separates youth voters dramatically across the board.
“I’m voting for McCain mostly because of foreign policy,” Maul said. “I don’t think it’s really smart for Obama wanting to sit down and talk to terrorist leaders.”
“I think it’s important to kind of wrap things up the right way and not just cut things off,” he said. “We need to have a solid military and fix things slowly but not change things drastically.”
UNO alumnus Katie Kepler, 25, disagrees.
“I’m voting for Obama. He’s the change that I’ve been hoping for the past eight years,” she said.
“His tax relief stance is the most important issue for me. I’m young and I get taxed to death. I can barely make end’s meet, because I just graduated from UNO with my master’s degree and with student loans, it is unreal.”
While some choose a presidential candidate from the two-party system, others support the third party nominee as a way to shake things up in Nebraska.
“I’m going to be voting for Nader, because he’s a crotchy, old white man,” Boldi said. “I like how pissed off he is about everything. I’m going to vote for Nader just because the country needs third party candidates. The two party system is a joke. It probably won’t do much, but I’m voicing my discontent with my vote today.
Although Boldi acknowledges Ralph Nader’s chance at winning this election is slim to none, he said Obama will be a nice change.
“Actually, I support Obama, but he has almost no chance in the Electoral College here. Is Barack going to be a hero who’s going to save everything? No. But it’s got to start somewhere. Change has to be made so hopefully something will get going.”
