Pete Mendoza / Vaquero Radio
As the 2024 Primary Elections approach, many faculty and students have their own opinions and beliefs when it comes to voting.
UTRGV information systems sophomore Karla Trevino said being uninformed was a key issue for her.
“My biggest concern is that we’re not so informed in the people we’re voting [for] and it’s hard to get informed,” Trevino said.
UTRGV Political Science Professor Mark Kaswan said gathering information to be able to vote is not always easy.
“Political system is not really set up in a way that makes it easy for people to know what’s going on,” Kaswan said. “You have to find reliable news sources; news sources that you can trust.”
Kaswan adds there are a few ways to stay informed. One way is visiting candidates’ official websites, the Hidalgo County and the Cameron County Elections Departments and a website called VOTE 411.
Other students such as psychology junior Anahi Garcia said she did not like the timing of the ballots.
“I know some people can get real busy” she said. “Even people that really care and wanna vote can’t find the time.”
Kaswan said it doesn’t take long to vote. What is time consuming is the research put into the candidates.
He said unfortunately Texas does not provide information to voters about elections and candidates like other states do.
Many students also focused their concerns on immigration border policies and the economy.
Kaswan said immigration has always been a tough issue and has always been a concern in the Valley.
“Here in the Valley and pretty much anywhere in the country, the first thing that people will talk about is the economy,” he said. “They’re going to talk about jobs. They’re going to talk about inflation.”
Science and health care administration graduate student Sophie Vega said she cared the most about public health.
“Just making it so someone who is trying to access health care can go to different clinics, can go to different specialists and they have that easily accessible records to them,” Vega said.
Kaswan said many people recently have focused on health care because of the issues with women’s health. He said many of the reforms made in health care have helped improve it.
Students such as criminal justice junior Rodrigo Rodriguez said people who are registered and have the ability should vote.
“Everybody who has the right to vote should vote,” Rodriguez said. “You’re choosing your next leader and who’s going to lead the country.”
This is Pete Mendoza for Vaquero Radio.
