UT students say local votes important

Students at the west mall of The University of Texas campus near the tower are doing whatever they can to drum up voter turnout. Some are eager to vote for the first time.

"Yeah, I'm pretty excited about it," said Mary Bowman, "because I missed the deadline four years ago, so yeah, I'm excited to cast my vote."

Angle Luna said she's looking forward to her first election. "I've been watching the presidential debates and stuff cause I wanted to know who I'm voting for."

Some are looking forward to vote in the near future.

"Of course, I'm excited," said Juana Guzman, who still not eligible to vote. "I think it's a privilege to be able to vote and, yeah, it is something to look forward to."

Chantel Chang is also waiting to vote one day

"Voting is one of those things every American should be able to do and should contribute to the community," Chang said.

Awareness of political issues and voting for Democrat or Republican is one thing, but others say that Election Day is also about voting for quality of life issues. Like Nicholas Mitchell who said several local propositions can have a huge effect in our lives.

"It's so important to tell people about because they're not really spoken about, just because they're outshined by the presidential election and senate elections," said Mitchell, "It's really the propositions that make all the difference on how we live in the city."

Student vote promoters said Election Day has even become an extension of their social network.

"Students check their status and their feed more than they check their mailbox(es)," said Leslie Tisdale, who wants to get students to vote. "So honestly we focus more of our targeting on Facebook and Twitter and social media because that's where students are most active and that's where we see a better response."

In the end, students say it doesn't matter who you vote for, but that you get involved in the process, early and often in life.