Nov. 3, 2020 was marked in everyone’s calendar as Election Day. Many would say this year was the most impactful election in history. Mount Pisgah seniors are feeling the pressure with this being their first time voting.

Samara Samad and Morgan Boylan are two of the high school seniors who voted in this election. One thing they have in common is the stress that comes with this duty. 

“Having the election be only a couple months past my birthday means I am one of the younger voters, so I felt like I had to do my best to educate myself because voting is a big responsibility,” Boylan said.

Educating one’s self is one of the most important steps to take before voting. As children, we often rely on our parents for the information we need. However, these seniors have had to make these decisions for themselves. 

“My parents have influenced my political opinions in certain ways,” Samad explained. “They also taught me the importance of discovering my own political opinions. Honestly, I would say my faith is the biggest influence on my political opinions.”

Boylan had a similar point of view. 

“My mom is really good about allowing me to have my own views and not pressuring me to vote for a certain candidate,” Boylan added. “My mom and family did help enlighten me on different social issues, fiscal issues, and how voting for each party would affect us personally but other than that, I had to do a lot of researching myself.”

The girls had very different experiences since Boylan voted in person and Samad decided to send in her ballot by mail.

“I wanted to stay safe and keep my family safe” is Samad’s reason for voting by mail.

However, Boylan seemed to have a fairly safe voting experience.

“In my experience, I got lucky and there was actually no line or a huge crowd,” Boylan admitted. “I think even in larger crowds/lines if everyone is responsible and wears a mask, then it’s just like any other gathering that is taking place in the current time.”

Samara believes that since “there are so many critical issues our nation is facing (at once), we need to vote to help address these issues… This election could be a turning point in our nation’s history.”

Samad is “praying for peace for our nation” due to the divide this election has created. Boylan asserts the election is, “currently causing a lot of separation and [she thinks] that either way there will be a big group of people not happy with the outcome.”

While the presidential election has ended, the U.S. Senate elections in Georgia have turned into two runoff elections. Currently, both Democrats and Republicans hold 48 seats in the senate. The winner of these runoffs wwill break the tie and determine which party will have control of the senate. This election will take place on January 5th. Samad plans to vote in person in this election.

“I think the senate election is very important because our senators represent Georgia and they are to be the voices of Georgians.” Samad expressed. “I hope people do go out and vote in the election, but honestly, I don’t know if the same amount of people will.”

As Boylan explained, “I always think it’s important to educate yourself on current issues and to if you can, vote.”