Voting

A lack of interest in the presidential election is the main reason people have decided not to vote, said a local gym member.

A 20-year-old member at the YMCA on Houston Street, Danny Zhou, said, “I rather spend my time doing something productive than to spend my time having to keep up with the election.” Having to devote time to learning everything about this year’s election has also become an obstacle for many in going to the polls.

Many of these non-voters proclaimed that the reason they don’t care about their candidates is because they don’t really know much about them. Another gym member, Tommy Tan, said, “I don’t know who to vote for nor do I know much about the candidates.” This lack of knowledge has discouraged people like Tan from taking time away from their busy schedule to vote.

In addition, many of these non-voters would rather work out at their local gym than to focus their time on the election because they do not see how their vote can make a difference. “I don’t see how my vote will count,” said Tan.

The source of this trend is mainly that most of these non-voters believe that they are not being affected in any way. “Voting does not affect me directly; the gym is directly for me,” said Tan

It is possible that voting has become less popular because of the lack of necessity, seven gym members have shown no interest in voting because it wasn’t necessary of them to do so. Janice Lo said, 23, said, “It’s not like voting is mandatory or anything.”

One politically informed gym member, Calvin Nup said, “It is important that people vote this year especially since there will be a new president, this is going to be a huge change for the county.”