By Willa Umansky PZ ’27

“I just think that the act of not voting when you’re in the position of a privileged Pitzer student is just selfish. You think that you’re creating change, but you’re just safe and protected from the domestic changes that would occur under a second Trump presidency. Isn’t what you’re doing inherently social performance if you know your vote won’t even count in an already blue state? At Pitzer when you disagree with the leadership you don’t drop out because you reap the personal benefits of a Pitzer education, so you dedicate yourself to changing the institution from the inside out. But you’re willing to drop out of democracy when you already reap the benefits of our country? Now you choose not to fight?” – Pitzer ‘27

“I’m a registered Republican. I registered as a Republican because I wanted to try to prevent Trump from ending up on the ticket, and I knew who was going to be on the Democratic ticket. I’m gonna change it, because I feel more moderate than the Republican party, but I just did it as a way to exercise more political agency.” – Scripps ‘28

“I’m voting for Harris, and I am not opting out of the national election. I’m gaining respect for those who do for the cause of Palestine, and — not but — at the end of the day I have so many fears for the capacity at which Project 2025 will come to fruition. I have fear for how domestic rights will be further stripped away and know that Trump is clearly motivated to do that. And, although I disagree with a lot of Harris’ policies as well as her history as a prosecutor and district attorney, I do think that there is a significantly better option here and it feels like my responsibility to act upon that instinct. But, I’m putting more of my energy and research into local elections.” – Pitzer ‘25

“Here is my response to the culture of CMC: People have been making the comparison of settling for the lesser of two evils for a very long time, since Biden and now with Kamala too. I think that is absolutely nuts. We have two qualified politicians [Biden and Harris], with complicated political track records, and we know what they stand for — despite people criticizing Kamala for a lack of a clear platform. And then we have a true monster. To me, deeply exploring Kamala’s qualifications is like this analogy that my dad used to make about Trump and Biden: ‘You’ve got a turkey sandwich and a shit sandwich with glass in it. Asking what’s in the turkey sandwich, from a comparison standpoint, is absolutely absurd.’ I also have a hard time feeling like anyone who is questioning Kamala and juxtaposing her as the lesser of two evils with Trump knows nothing and is not qualified to be talking about it.” – CMC ‘25

“I signed up for the Freedom and Libertarian party … I’m still voting for Harris, but I signed up for a different party so that [my vote] is not coming from the democratic party. It’s showing how many people are signed up for different parties and it is showing that I don’t [show] solidarity and don’t agree with the Democratic party’s values.” – Pitzer ‘25

“If I were to vote, I would vote for Kamala. I know people who have been canvassing at Pomona, around the community… At Pomona as well we had an orientation activity where you would get a ticket for an ice cream slush if you registered to vote … On Pomona’s campus, unlike what I’ve heard about CMC, we don’t entertain Trump at all. When it comes to this election, on Pomona’s campus, people are ready to get down to business because people understand the repercussions of a second Trump presidency … People on Pomona’s campus are taking Trump’s threats very literally and are serious about getting out the vote because of that.” – Pomona ‘28.

“As a student in leftist spaces I am constantly caught in the conversation of whether it is worth it to abstain or to concede and vote. What we neglect when people talk about being a ‘principled’ organizer, is that there always needs to be a diversity of tactics. Voting is a form of agency that incarcerated or undocumented community members are not afforded, and so if I am able to vote on behalf of that population, I will use my privilege to vote. But it is certainly not my only form of power. When people say that voting is U.S. citizens’ ‘only significant power,’ it is quite stifling to other tactics of localized, or even national organizing. My belief is that I don’t think that people are obligated to vote, but I do believe that people should dedicate themselves to an avenue of accountability to justice.” – Pitzer ‘26

“The basis of my voting is that I’m a registered independent, I’m not party affiliated. I don’t agree with voting based on party or straight ticket voting. It’s not centralizing what’s best for the nation, for me it’s about the candidates. I’m voting based on who I think is going to benefit the nation as a whole, rather than just a small population. I’m from a small conservative town in Colorado, but that’s not who I am on the inside. Seeing the pact mentality in a red town actually dissuades me from becoming a part of that on the other side of the aisle.” – Scripps ‘28