ORLANDO, Fla. – With one week left until Election Day many people, including students in Central Florida, are taking advantage of early voting.
For some, like University of Central Florida junior Anna Maria Schultz, this is their first time casting a ballot.
“There’s a lot more on the line it feels like this year. More than most. I didn’t vote when I was 18, so I kind of felt guilty for not doing it. So, I thought, ‘it’s up to me,’” she said.
UCF junior Veronika Ledford has voted before, but tells News 6 it feels more personal this time around.
RELATED: In college? Here’s how to vote in the presidential election in Florida
“I had just turned 18 when I first voted. So even though my beliefs were kind of the same, I feel like I hadn’t really grasped everything. But this time I know what I’m doing,” Ledford said. “I think the most important thing is to vote.”
We asked issues matter to them this election, and many said abortion and Amendment 3, which would legalize recreational marijuana in Florida.
“I would definitely say reproductive health. Reproductive rights. Whether you like it or not, where abortions are legal is where safer practices are held,” UCF senior Hayden Meyers said.
RELATED: Young voters could decide the November election, experts say.
“I think the abortion rights that are on the ballot. I think to legalize marijuana recreationally, that’s on the ballot are very important,” Ledford said.
Twenty-two-year-old Rollins College alum Lashaugh Waiters was casting her ballot at the polling site on UCF’s campus and said she felt similarly.
“Definitely a woman’s right to choose, what to do with her body. Recreational marijuana. It’s a big one on there,” Waiters said.
Meyers said his hope is that people his age will engage with politics in real life, not just online.
“I think it’s really funny to post these videos of the debates and like these funny conversations happening and like these funny talking heads that we have, but it’s not funny. Like, politics is a very important thing,” he said.
For more information on how to early vote in Orange County, click here.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily:
