As Election Day approaches, discussions on campus about the candidates and the state of politics in the United States have intensified. These discussions shed light on the political issues students are prioritizing in this year’s elections and how students are civically engaged on campus.

The partisan student groups on campus – the Hopkins Democrats and the Johns Hopkins University Republicans – have both officially endorsed their respective parties’ presidential candidates.

Hopkins Democrats highlighted abortion and economic issues as important considerations for voters this election and also pointed to recent hurricanes, school shootings and developments in the war in Gaza as drivers of voter concerns Democrats on climate change, gun control and foreign policy.

In an email to The Newsletter, Hopkins Democrats stressed that despite the importance of other issues, this election is fundamentally a choice reflecting moral values, and argued that while the Democratic Party has focused on optimism and decency, the Republican Party has favored pessimism and division.

“Many voters disagree with the Democratic candidates on one or two issues, but believe they provide a more optimistic path for the future,” they write. “On the other side, there is a party that directly attacks the identity of others and actively undermines our democratic institutions. Perfection is not there, but decency and morality are.

In an interview with The NewsletterAndrew Hines — a freshman unaffiliated with the Hopkins Democrats — explained his thoughts on the election as someone who voted for Vice President Kamala Harris via mail-in ballot in his home state of New York.

“I am optimistic in some ways but pessimistic in others. I feel like Kamala Harris is a better candidate than Joe Biden,” he said. “We’ve already had a president of color for eight years and we’ve already had a sense of a woman running for president, so that’s something people are more familiar with. But I’ve met far too many people who said they would vote for Harris if she were a man. »

Republicans at Johns Hopkins University said the economy, immigration and the sanctity of life are the three most important issues facing Americans today.

The organization highlighted the Biden-Harris administration’s progressive spending and border policies as particular concerns in an email to The Newsletter.

“After four years of reckless progressive spending, historic inflation, and the Democrats’ war on American energy, the cost of living has risen, wages have fallen, homeownership has declined, and the American dream is become out of reach for millions of Americans,” they wrote “The Biden-Harris administration’s reckless open border policies have triggered the worst migration crisis in our nation’s history, flooding our borders. crime communities, allowing dangerous terrorists onto our streets and fueling the fentanyl epidemic that is hollowing out American families.

College Republicans also explained their opposition to the Democratic Party’s current position on abortion in an email to The Newsletter.

“The hotly contested precedent set by the Dobbs decision is under threat, as the Democratic presidential candidate has openly expressed his willingness to circumvent legal boundaries to reinstate Roe, while the Democratic Senate candidate has pledged to pack the Supreme Court unconstitutionally,” they wrote.

Both organizations expressed the need to create more spaces to foster productive civic dialogue. Both groups also indicated that they believe their respective parties are doing a good job of attracting young voters.

Partisan groups on campus aren’t the only organizations active as Election Day approaches. Hopkins Votesa nonpartisan initiative within the Center for Social Concern, aims to increase civic engagement on campus and help all Hopkins affiliates, including students, faculty and staff, engage in the democratic process .

Although Hopkins Votes operates year-round, whether it is an election year or not, presidential elections cultivate a new sense of energy among undergraduates.

Rishi Wahi, student co-director of Hopkins Votes, explained the effect of the presidential election on Homewood students in an interview with The Newsletter.

“Even when there are not federal elections, elections are held at the statewide and local level. It’s really a struggle to try to establish a culture of civic engagement (and) to get people interested,” he said. “This year? A lot more commitment. There’s a lot less convincing that we have to do.

Common questions students have voiced at Hopkins Votes drop-off events include how to mail absentee ballots or register to vote in Maryland. As a nonpartisan group, Hopkins Votes does not encourage students to vote for any specific candidate or inform any individual political decisions, such as indicating in which state a student should vote.

Olivia Lowry – a freshman from Pennsylvania – described her concerns about mail-in voting in an interview with The Newsletter.

“I’m actually going home to vote in person due to decertification attempts in my state in 2020,” she said.

In an interview with The NewsletterWahi emphasized that the goal of Hopkins Votes was to get people to the polls rather than getting them to make a particular policy decision.

“The Supreme Court has made it clear that students can choose the community with which they feel most strongly connected and enroll in either location,” he said. “Usually people try to ask political questions: ‘If I live in a swing state, should I register here or there?’ » Hopkins Votes is not interested in this. We want you to be registered and ready wherever you feel most connected.

Election Day programming by Hopkins Votes includes a Walk to the Polls and an Election Day Watch Party in the Glass Pavilion from 7 to 11 p.m.

Hopkins Votes encourages Hopkins affiliates to use the Turbo voting electoral resource and to engage in the democratic process by becoming electoral judges.

In an interview with The NewsletterKaitlyn Jung — a political science major — emphasized that despite the importance of the upcoming election, political engagement must be an ongoing effort.

“There are so many factors that make the way we elect candidates not entirely democratic. You vote once every four or two years, but what kind of work do you do outside of that one day? I think it’s very important but we don’t talk about it enough,” she said.