SCRANTON, PA – Treb Cacao is a first-time voter and a student at the Scranton High school, which served as a polling location for the elections.
Cacao, 18, and his friends set up a table at the entrance of the school to raise funds to attend the presidential inauguration in Washington, DC in January. Except Cacao has no idea who he wants to see as president.
“Whoever wins, I guess,” he said.
Cacao is the quintessential undecided voter. Hours before polling closed, he still had no idea whom he was voting for.
“I feel like I want to save as much time researching the policies of both the candidates before finally casting the vote,” he said. “I am going to research all day, and hopefully by the evening, I will have an answer.”
Cacao isn’t alone.
The American presidential election results often hinge on the undecided voters in swing states. In Scranton, many exiting the polling booth said they were undecided until as late as a few days ago. Some others changed their minds just a week ago, and some hadn’t decided until they entered the polling booth. Reasons for their indecision on whom to vote for ranged from overload of political advertisements, debate on issues like abortion and gun control laws, and skepticism over campaign promises.
Madison Taravella, 20, who is studying health promotion at the University of Scranton, said that Donald Trump’s views on abortion laws aligned with her Catholic beliefs but she supported Kamala Harris’ policies on gun control.
“I do care about bodily autonomy but I am uncomfortable with the ethics of abortion unless a woman’s life is at risk,” she said.
Harris, despite being a gun owner herself, is a proponent of stricter gun laws, something that Taravella appreciates.
Taravella is also in favor of seeing a woman become the next president but is unsure if Kamala Harris is the right fit for that role.
“I feel like she makes all these big promises, which she won’t be able to deliver on,” she said. “And if the first female president fails to deliver, it will become a mockery of the first female president. That will make it difficult for other women who want to become a president in the future.”
Similarly, Gianna Travia, 20, a student at the University of Scranton, is aligned with Trump’s “latest take” on abortion. Travia felt there has been a lot of “misinterpretation” of Trump’s position on abortion.
“He has not demanded a national ban,” she said. “He has said each state can decide for itself.”
In October, Trump said that he would stand against a federal abortion ban and even veto it if he has to. Trump is seen as a ‘pro-life’ candidate, given his appointment of three conservative Supreme Court justices who were key to overturning Roe v Wade.
It was not only young voters who were undecided about their vote until the final days of campaigning.
Philip Cutler, 41, voted for Donald Trump in 2016. Cutler, an IT manager, has family in Israel and believes Trump would “support Israeli interests strongly.” And yet in 2020, he didn’t vote for Trump and is now uncertain about his support.
“I agree with him on a number of issues, but he runs his mouth a lot,” he said. “A lot of my family are Trump supporters but even they agree that he is too unpredictable.”
(Photo credit: Spencer Jones)
About the author(s)
Prajwal Bhat
