Lauren Rossetti | staff writer

For the first time in his life, freshman education major Josiah Selednik will be able to vote in a U.S. election. The Plum native said that rather than voting in the city, he plans to travel home to vote in person.

“I think, at least for me personally, [registering] was a lot easier than I thought it would be,” Selednik said.

For many Duquesne students, this will be their first time voting, with a large majority of them as part of the 18-25 demographic, an age group that has historically had some of the lowest voter turnout, according to data from Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University New Brunswick.

This is especially true when it comes to midterm elections. In the 2022 elections, 29.7% of female voters ages 18-25 and 25.3% of male voters ages 18-25 voted. The demographic with the largest turnout were men and women ages 65-74.

Despite this, students like Selednik believe midterm elections can have just as much of an impact as presidential ones.

“It’s important to focus on local politics as well because I think you have a lot more control over what goes on in your community,” Selednik said.

Freshman political science major and Altoona native Olivia Fortson said she is going to vote, but that she is not going home to do it.

“I plan to vote here in Pittsburgh because I will be spending the majority of my time here in Pittsburgh rather than back at home,” Fortson said. “I plan to move here in Pittsburgh within the summer, so voting back at home, the candidates really do not affect me.”

For students who live farther away who want to vote in their home elections, they must choose between navigating the process of mail-in voting, travelling home or not voting at all.

Freshman education major Thomas Trudel of Loudon County, Virginia is choosing to abstain from voting this year.

“I’m more old school when it comes to that kind of stuff, I prefer to vote in person,” Trudel said. “It’s a bit more of an inconvenience for me, it’s just not something that I really see myself doing.”

He intends to travel home to vote in the 2028 elections.

Like Trudel, freshman biology major Kate Celender is opting out of voting this year.

“It’s not a huge election, so I haven’t put too much thought into it,” Celendar said. “Candidates that have focused a lot toward the people instead of just the economy, I think I gravitate a lot more toward that, especially helping the working class and younger generations.”

Sophomore chemistry major Emma Leatherman voted by mail this year for her home town candidates in Montgomery County near Philadelphia. She requested a mail-in ballot online and had it mailed to her home address. She filled it out during fall break and sent it from Pittsburgh.

She said the process worked well for her, but she could see others having difficulties.

“I think for a young person it’s manageable, but for people who are getting older and maybe don’t have a car, it’s a little bit harder to get to the mail-in spot,” Leatherman said.

Despite her demographic typically showing up the least when it comes to voting, Fortson said that she hopes students see the significance of going to the polls.

“Go vote. It’s important. Everyone’s vote matters. Just because you think one vote doesn’t matter, it very much does,” Fortson said.

Lauren Rossetti can be reached at rossettil1@duq.edu