Young voters exercise their right to vote

It was just another dreary Thursday to the people walking by Dunn Cemetery, where Daniel O’Donnell, Max Johnson and Katie Mettler met that afternoon.
But to them it was a day of excitement because they were voting in their first general
election.

When the three arrived after a full day of classes, they descended the steps adjacent to the Indiana Memorial Union, where the Voter Van was waiting.

There to greet them was senior Kelly Smith, president of the IU College Democrats, along with fellow College Democrats.

“Are you here to vote?” Smith asked them, with more enthusiasm than could be expected of someone who divided her day between class and the polls.
Voting was entirely new for Johnson and Mettler, but O’Donnell said he had voted in the primary election on May 4.

“I voted absentee because my dad was having surgery that day,” he said. “So I went to the clerk’s office and voted that way.”

O’Donnell and Mettler were anything but ignorant to politics. Mettler said she was a delegate to the Democratic state
convention.

“I worked on a campaign back home for a state representative for the primary,” O’Donnell said. “He lost, but I worked
on it.”

When the Voter Van pulled up, the College Democrats cheered and congratulated the van’s previous rider, who had just returned from the Curry Building.

In actuality, the van was an SUV. Its sides were decorated with campaign signs for Linda Robbins, the Democratic candidate for Monroe County clerk.

When O’Donnell, Johnson and Mettler were safely inside, the driver introduced herself.
“I’m Linda Robbins,” she said. “Do you guys all know who you’re going to vote for?”
“Democrat,” Johnson said.

The group laughed.

“Well, way in the back I have a blue bag, and it has a list of all the Democrats if you want,” Robbins said. “And I apologize. I don’t have any Republican information in here at all.”

“Darn,” someone said. It was hard to tell who emitted the sarcastic response over the laughter.

The van pulled in front of the Curry Building, and the voters walked up to the door.
Despite being first- or second-time voters, they all had done their research beforehand.

“Well, I heard a lot of them speak at the IU Democrats meetings, so I got to know a lot of the candidates that way,” O’Donnell said. “And I’ve always lived in Baron Hill’s district, so I know him.”

Johnson said he went online to determine the stances of the candidates.
“All we had to do was fill out a form and go up to the machine and punch in what we were voting for,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t as stressful as it sometimes is made out to be.”

All three said they were caught off guard by a few of the questions on the ballot.
“There were questions about judges I didn’t understand, like, ‘Should this person be retained in office?’ I didn’t know who they were,” O’Donnell said.

The three said they didn’t answer those questions.
“I didn’t like having to skip questions, but I also wasn’t going to vote uninformed,”
Mettler said.

Johnson, Mettler and O’Donnell thought voting on Oct. 28 was a success.
“It was nice,” Johnson said. “Nice to know I made a difference.”