Kaitlyn Hughes | features editor

With the election less than a week away, Duquesne University students are preparing to make their way to the polls. For some, this will be the first time receiving an “I voted” sticker while others have filled out a ballot before.

Decision making process

Professor and Chair of Duquesne’s Political Science Department Clifford Bob said that to some degree students react to the political environment in which they grew up. It can influence who they cast their vote for.

“But that could always go in two ways,” Bob said. “Some students are more likely to follow in the footsteps of their parents. Others might actually just want to rebel against their parents.”

Chrissy Bober, junior occupational therapy major at Duquesne, said she will be voting Democratic this upcoming election.

The house she grew up in did influence her decision.

Bober said she has more research to do before Nov. 5, but she knows she wants to see Vice President Kamala Harris take office for the next four years. It was not just her family that had an influence on her decision, but the values and the policies Harris has proposed, that had a role in her commitment to vote blue.

Sophomore computer science and finance major Jonah Nizami registered as a Republican. He said it was his upbringing that led him to the decision to vote for former President Donald Trump.

“I think it makes sense for my family, specifically … with working in pharmaceutical companies,” Nizami said.

Bob said that another determining factor not just for students, but for all Americans, is policy preferences that the candidates express.

“They try to align their own preferences most closely with those of the candidate they end up supporting,” Bob said.

Sophomore history major Mason Rebholz registered as a Democrat. Rebholz said the main reason he chose that party is because he is queer.

Going beyond his sexuality, Rebholz said, the rhetoric used by those who support the Republican Party is frightening to him.

“Even ignoring the whole LGBTQ issue that I have with them, I probably would never vote Republican in my life,” Rebholz said.

Freshman general engineer major Philip Dubois registered as an independent because he is not in favor of the current two-party system.

“I think it’s too partisan,” he said. “It separates people more than it brings them together.”

Though he is not affiliated with a specific party, he said he will be voting for Harris.

“I’m pretty far leftist, but some of the liberal policies, I’m not a huge fan of,” Dubois said. “I know I’m very against Donald Trump being in office.

Lack of education on the political sphere

Junior early education major Madeliene Patragas said going into the election she still has more research to do.

Despite a lack of in-depth examination on either party, Patragas is a registered Democrat, and she said her current plan is to vote for Harris.

“I feel like I am not educated enough, so I have work to do on either party,” Patragas said. “I feel like there is still time for my decision to be swayed.”

Patragas is not alone in feeling uneducated.

Freshman speech language pathology major Rachel Clevens is a registered independent.

She said she does not pay attention to the policies of either candidate, which has left her undecided on her vote.

“I’m so stressed about it,” Clevens said. “I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

Freshman speech language pathology major Lilly Ridd registered as Republican because the party’s views align with some of her Catholic beliefs. She has decided to vote for Trump.

Ridd said she doesn’t know a lot about the policies of either candidate and is getting tired of constantly being flooded with information about the election in the media.

“[I’m] getting sick of all the bickering and campaigning,” Ridd said.

Patragas said that people are not always able to rely on news sources because of the underlying biases and personal opinions that influence how a story is written.

She thinks students should take matters into their own hands.

“Just putting an effort to take it upon ourselves as first-time voters and young people to do our own research with unbiased sources really does a lot in impacting our decisions,” she said.

Why they vote

Students of all different parties said that voting in this upcoming election is their civic duty.

“I feel like it would be an incredibly irresponsible choice to not [vote],” Patragas said. “We’re in a country, and we’re in a state where we are given an opportunity to do so. To not exercise that right would be foolish.”

Junior history and political science major Joe Indzonka said he registered as a Democrat to protect the sanctity of democracy.

He will be voting for Harris in the upcoming election.

“I just want to see America improve in general,” Indzonka said. “I don’t want it to backslide to a war state or a previous version that wasn’t as free for people in general.”