'Ready to put in our two cents.' First-time Springfield voters make their way to the polls
Sara Bonner, an 18-year-old senior at Lanphier High School, will head out Tuesday to vote in her first presidential election.
That is, unless you count the time Bonner as a kindergartener voted for President Barack Obama.
"We had a mock election at Wilcox Elementary School, Obama vs. [Mitt] Romney, in 2012," Bonner recalled. "I remember looking at the two candidates and I was thinking, 'Obama looks friendlier, so I voted for (him).'"
For teens voting for a first time in Illinois' primary, like Bonner, the stage is set, and they are looking for more than friendly faces.
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"We're ready to put in our two cents," Bonner said.
Many teens herald it as a chance to sound off on a number of issues, including border security, the economy and abortion.
A number of first-time voters said they look at it as their civic duty and as a chance to elect officials they hope will best represent them.
They said they have learned about the voting process in classes, discussed policies and issues with friends and seen their parents vote. Some will be joining parents to cast that first ballot.
Teens who turn 18 by the time of the Nov. 5 general election are eligible to vote in Tuesday's primary, said Sangamon County Clerk Don Gray.
An age of more direct communication and easier access to information has galvanized young voters, Gray insisted, who are not only casting ballots but serving as poll workers or registrars on Election Day.
"I've just witnessed so much more passion in the younger generation in wanting to be involved in electoral democracy," he said.
Power of the vote
Elliott Woehrmann, a senior at Sacred Heart-Griffin High School, said he viewed voting as a crucial part of the democratic process.
"We're speaking our opinion by voting for the candidate that we want to govern us and vote on policies we agree with," he said.
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Woehrmann said he sees the power in his vote, too.
"We all get one vote. Those votes can add up, and if we can influence the people around us and everyday people to get out and vote, we can change elections, we can change policies," Woehrmann insisted. "I feel like, especially with my generation, we are starting to realize that politics plays an important part in our everyday lives."
Marques Robinson, a 17-year-old senior at Lanphier, agreed.
"I think voting is very important for every citizen to do because otherwise, how else can you expect something to happen?" Robinson said. "And I want something to change in our world, so for that reason, I do want to vote."
If teens, said Mitchell Watts, an 18-year-old senior at Calvary Academy, felt frustrated by decision-makers and not being able to participate fully in the process before, this is their chance.
"So now that you can (vote), I feel it's just as important to keep that same motivation, that same strive to have a say and to utilize it," Watts contended.
Taking a stand
History class taught Watts about his right to vote. Family, he said, encouraged him to have opinions.
"If you don't really have any clue what's going on or don't have any real strive to have an opinion on what's going on, then just (voting for) whoever you like or whoever looks nice isn't really using that power to its full advantage," Watts said. "With all these political disagreements and controversies, I feel it's more important to take a stand on what you believe."
Bonner said from a young age, she's had an interest in history and government. She said her dad has "always been vocal" about politics and conversation between the two sometimes drifts to issues of the day.
Likewise, Woehrmann said if he is watching TV with his parents and news about elections or polls comes on, it can "spark conversations."
Robinson, who has an eye on working in state government, said he has a couple of friends in particular with whom he talks politics a lot.
"I debate with them a lot on these (national) topics, but most of the time they're friendly (debates)," he said.
Even as Woehrmann heads out to vote, he knows some teens have been turned off by the discourse.
"A couple of people I've talked have flat-out said they're not going to vote," he said. "I feel like they feel their vote really doesn't matter."
Some teens, Watts said, "are turned away by the complexity and the tension behind everything. I feel like they're, like, this is too much. With all these political disagreements and controversies, I feel it's more important to take a stand on what you believe."
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield teens ready to vote for first time during primary election
