Research released in June by the Berkeley Institute for Young Americans revealed that younger voters had a broad, decisive impact on the 2020 presidential election and on congressional elections in 2018 and 2022 – with the same being expected this year.

In the latest episode of The UCI Podcast, we’ll speak with Kylie Jones, Khushi Patel and Evelyn Rodriguez – three UC Irvine undergraduates who are passionate about participating in the political process. They’ll tell us why voting is important to them, offer their thoughts on voter turnout and share key issues that younger voters are focusing on in this election cycle.

Jones, a senior majoring in public health policy and external vice president of the Associated Students of the University of California, Irvine, has set her sights on pursuing a Master of Public Health with a concentration in epidemiology, followed by a career ensuring that communities are prepared for disasters.

Patel, a sophomore majoring in both political science and international studies and ASUCI’s civic engagement coordinator, would like to attend law school and, after a legal career, possibly work in politics or the nonprofit space.

Rodriguez, a senior double-majoring in education sciences and political science and a peer advisor for the campus’s Office of Civic Engagement, is also considering graduate school, potentially for a future in public administration or public policy.

There are multiple resources to assist voters:

• The Office of Civic Engagement created a webpage with FAQ and other resources to help prepare people for the 2024 election. Students who work in the Office of Civic Engagement posted a series of videos about why voting matters and how to vote and be informed in the process.
• The offices of the external vice presidents for ASUCI and Associated Graduate Students produced a general election voter guide, available in an abbreviated version via Canva and a more detailed Google document.
• ASUCI and AGS collaborated with Transportation and Distribution Services to offer the inaugural “Stop, Zot N’ Vote Bus,” providing Anteater Express shuttles between several designated stops near East Campus housing communities and the polling location at the Student Center on Nov. 2 and 3.
• Judy Hao, senior staff psychologist at the UCI Counseling Center, has shared “7 Tips for Coping with Election Stress.”

“Believe (Instrumental),” the music for this episode, was provided by Neffex via the audio library in YouTube Studio.

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Cara Capuano/The UCI Podcast:
From the University of California, Irvine, I’m Cara Capuano. Thank you for listening to The UCI Podcast.

Research released in June by the UC Berkeley Institute for Young Americans revealed that younger voters had a broad, decisive impact on the 2020 presidential election and on congressional elections in 2018 and 2022. The same is expected this year.

In today’s episode, we’re speaking with three UC Irvine undergraduates who are all passionate about the voting process. Kylie Jones, a senior majoring in public health policy and the external vice president of the Associated Students of the University of California, Irvine, also known as ASUCI. Kylie is joined by Khushi Patel, a sophomore double majoring in political science and international studies and the civic engagement coordinator of ASUCI, and Evelyn Rodriguez, a senior double major in education sciences and political science and a peer advisor in the Office of Civic Engagement. Anteaters, thank you all for joining us today.

Khushi Patel:

Thank you for having us.

Capuano:

First, let’s get to know a little more about each of you and I’ll start with Evelyn. Evelyn, why is voting important to you?

Evelyn Rodriguez:

Voting is important to me because as someone who comes from a well-diverse community, I know that people from my community are not allowed to vote – like, a majority of them. So, I know that when I vote, I’m not just representing my beliefs and what I believe in and hope for the future, I’m also representing my community and what they believe in, what they want to represent for themselves.

Capuano:

What about you, Khushi?

Patel:

I 100% agree with what Evelyn just said. I feel like voting throughout time has been something that sort of symbolizes whether or not society is acknowledging a certain group of people. I mean it used to only be given to white property-owning men and now it’s been given to women just only a little bit over a hundred years ago. And so, to me, voting is an acknowledgement of that right. And practicing it is representing every single person who has come before us and is going to come after us. And I mean the idea that people are the ones who are going to be electing our officials, and that people are going to be the one making decisions for this country has been I feel like a building block of democracy and participating in that, I feel as if it is my civic duty.

Capuano:

And Kylie?

Kylie Jones:

I think just echoing once again what Khushi and Evelyn were talking about, looking at civic engagement and voting as kind of a privilege at the end of the day. It truly is about like this is our best way in which to not only impact our community but also engage in our democracy and really making sure that we’re representing the ideals and communities and values that we hold and bringing them out to the bigger, wider community.

Capuano:
Voter turnout is one topic that we’re hearing about referred to in the media very often, both news and social media. Several stories address whether young voters are actually going to participate in the process this year. How much interest and enthusiasm are you seeing around this year’s elections from your UC Irvine classmates and peers? Kylie, let’s start with you.

Jones:
I personally feel like I’m seeing a lot of enthusiasm across the campus, not only just within my smaller social circle, but rather just the general UCI, across the UC system as well.

I think at the end of the day a lot of folks in our generation have grown up with this constant access to information, access to media, access to the news and the world around us, and are really tuned into what’s going on because we’re seeing it constantly. So, I think this year’s voter turnout – as trends mentioned, that you previously had talked about – is just going to continue to go up because the youth care.

And I think it’s something that’s a sentiment that’s felt by a lot of folks because I think oftentimes the youth feel that we aren’t represented, our values aren’t represented – what we want and what we want to see reflected in our government and the policies that we abide by. So, I think that aspect of the voting and voter turnout is really going to be there. I think also just given the fact that it is a very contentious election year that is constantly being shown in the news media –given all those factors, and it’s a presidential year, that the youth are going to turn out and we’re going to make sure that our voices are heard.

Capuano:
Khushi?

Patel:
I 100% agree with everything Kylie just said. I feel as if growing up a lot of the time the youth felt as if they didn’t have power, or they didn’t have a voice. But with social media and with all of the new opportunities we’ve been given, I really do think that our voices have been amplified, especially in this election cycle.

Specifically at UCI, similar to what Kylie just talked about, but it’s a very contentious year for elections everywhere and especially in Orange County. And I’ve been seeing a lot of young people not only make vote plans but also go out and canvas for people. They’re sharing things on social media, they’re knocking down doors and they’re doing a lot of things of just, you know, engaging in conversation, whether it be with older generations, with younger generations or their own generation.

Similar to the trends that you talked about, and that Kylie just mentioned, I do think that with every single election cycle, you know, voter turnout is increasing and I do expect that this year is going to be a year for the books.

Capuano:
Evelyn?

Rodriguez:
I think they made great points and feel like they hit the nail so well that I don’t really know how much more I could add, but I know that social media really pushed like engagement as in total – like we see it so much with the youth.

It’s not just like canvassing, it’s also like telling people to be informed if there’s a proposition that people are passionate about, if there’s a certain bill that’s going to get passed, people are just like making sure everyone else is informed. And I feel like voter turnout is going to go up.

But I guess it always is a question like can we walk the walk if we’re talking the talk? But I know on campus there’s the “Zot the Vote” initiative that’s being passed around to just encourage the youth – no matter whatever they believe in, their beliefs on like the different political spectrums, to just go out and vote. And I feel like that’s being pushed so much around campus right now that we’re just hoping that the voter turnout does just show up. It’s going in a positive direction right now.

Capuano:
I love to hear that. Kylie, you mentioned “the youth care” and that phrase really stood out for me. So, that brings me to my next question: what are the key issues that younger voters are focusing on in this year’s elections? Khushi, please share your thoughts first.

Patel:
To be honest, what issue isn’t there that the youth aren’t caring about? I feel like every single person I’ve talked to in regards to the election and in regards to politics has so many different specific issues that we’re caring about.

Specifically in the office of the EVP, we’ve been hosting these debates, where we’ve had candidates come and sort of share their views and debate with each other. And we’ve been having these Google forums where people can ask a bunch of different questions and there have been so many different responses and requests submitted for the kind of questions we want to ask.

But I do think that the number one thing that I’ve been hearing about from a bunch of youth is about the housing crisis because at the end of the day, housing prices are increasing and it’s our turn to sort of go into that market and to buy those houses. And also with rent, I mean living in Irvine – living in honestly any one of the UCs in California – rent is really expensive. And it’s definitely something that we’re talking about a lot.

That, in addition to the environment and the policies that different elected officials hold regarding that and the things that they’ll do in order to protect the environment because at the end of the day, the youth, we are the ones who are inheriting this earth. We’re the ones inheriting the societies that we are building and contributing to. So all of those things are definitely things that I feel the youth are definitely caring about right now.

Capuano:
Kylie?

Jones:

Housing definitely is a big issue that we’re not only thinking about within our university system but also in the general wide span of our state and within our nation.

I think the other two issues that come to mind for me are gun violence and gun control. Something that our generation is unfortunately very, I wouldn’t say accustomed to, but something that we’ve always grown up around – especially since we’re one of the first generations that have grown up doing lockdown drills in our schools, waking up with news of the next school shooting or the next mass shooting, this and that. So, I think that’s something that’s very prevalent in our discourse, at least the discourse I’ve been having with my peers.

I think another big one – and something that we’ve seen not only within the youth but also at the nationwide level – is access to reproductive health and abortion. It’s something that we’ve seen brought up in the presidential debates, in various state congressional debates. Wherever you stand on that issue, it’s something that’s definitely being talked about because of the recent Supreme Court overturning and everything else going on that.

I know I said two, but I just had another one kind of pop up in my head: just in general social justice and equity issues. Something that I feel like is very prevalent for our generation is making sure that all of our peers, not just ourselves, are being taken care of by our government at the end of the day.

Capuano:
Evelyn?

Rodriguez:
I’m going basically off like my friends because I feel like we have so much like discussion and discourse over this election cycle. A lot of what’s being talked about right now – especially with everything going on right now with financial aid – is making sure education is still going to be affordable in a couple years from now.

Education policy, what’s going to happen to education? Is it going to be taken away? Is it going to become more privatized? Institutionalized? That’s like the biggest discourse I feel like I’m having right now with my friends.

No matter where you stand on it, I feel like another issue that’s been being talked about a lot, especially – I’m on Twitter – so, a lot on Twitter, is immigration rights and it’s just a lot of like actual issues coupled up with like a lot of racist remarks. So, no matter where you stand, I feel like that’s something that’s being brought up on the policy. What’s going to happen next with this election?

And, going off of what Kylie said, women’s rights and reproductive rights – again, no matter where you stand on it – it’s something that’s being talked about. And with the Supreme Court being the way it is, I feel like there’s a lot of just like discussion on what’s next for us. Do we really have a choice? Is there a lot we can do? What’s going to happen?

Capuano:
I feel like you all genuinely covered every single major topic that we’re hearing about in this election cycle. I think there’s a very unfortunate misconception that the younger voter only has one or two things that they’re really concerned about. And in speaking with the three of you, that’s assuredly not the case. It’s the full spectrum.

Jones:
The reason why there are so many issues being brought up is because they’re all interconnected at the end of the day. And I think more youth are starting to realize that they’re all interconnected at the end of the day and realizing how one thing – or how maybe multiple things – impact one issue. It’s more so how we are not just a single-face issue, and I think that’s a general misconception about youth voters. Also because of media, we’ve grown up seeing so many different issues in our society that we’re like, “We can’t just think about one thing. We have to think about everything involved.”

Patel:
I think echoing what Kylie said, it’s also like the interconnectedness of the world. We’re seeing a lot of youth, specifically in the last year and the last couple of months, who have been really active in global affairs and that’s definitely been a key issue that a lot of youth voters are thinking about in terms of the presidential election especially and what, you know, the elected candidates would do in response to certain things that might come out in global affairs. And I genuinely think that just goes to show what Kylie was talking about. You know, the youth aren’t just caring about specific things that are happening in our country or specific things that might be influencing oneself, but things that are influencing the entire world and just society as a whole.

Rodriguez:
Khushi said it earlier: that for such a long time it’s been like white males – older males – who have been just like dominating the voting spectrum and dominating politics in general. But like Kylie said, the youth care now. Like we have cared and now that we’re eligible, now that we’re able to vote, now that we’re able to run for office, now that we’re able to do just so much more with our voices, we’re going to show up and finally do something about the issues that we have been longing to be fixed for such a long time.

Capuano:

Is there anything that we didn’t talk about that you want to bring up?

Jones:
I think something that’s oftentimes left out of the conversation of the youth vote is empowering the youth to believe that they have the power to make change. Because I think something that I often see with engaging with students in our events and this and that through the associate students is just that students feel like their vote doesn’t matter. They feel like their voices don’t matter because they oftentimes get maybe trampled over or they might not know what’s the best way to express it or they might not know where the best way to express it – whatever circumstances it is. And something that the Office of Civic Engagement, alongside our Office of the External Vice President, have been really partnering on this year is empowering students to know what’s on their ballot, know who’s running for which races and know how to vote.

I think we’re really fortunate as a campus to have an actual vote center on our campus, which will be in the Student Center from November 2nd to the fifth, I believe. And really just – at the end of the day – empowering students … even if you’re not a student, if you’re a parent, if you’re an older folk in your community – or even if you’re a younger folk in your community – really just empowering each other to be civically engaged. Not just voting but also engaging with the electoral process, engaging with the policies that are going on around you. When we’re doing that, we’re not only making sure that we’re aware of what’s going on, but also making sure that we’re actively taking a part in changing our community for the better, changing our community in the way that we see fit.

Patel:

Going off of what Kylie said, there’s one phrase that really comes to mind and it’s that all politics are local and in that sense it’s that all politics starts local. We’ve been registering a lot of people to vote in the last couple of weeks and we’ve had this booth pretty much twice a week since school started. And last week a student came up to the booth and they were like, “Why does my vote actually count? I mean, there’s so many people, we know how California’s going to vote.” And the way I responded was, “Fun fact: the congressional district that UCI is in was actually won by 5,000 votes in the last election.”

And in the terms of how big Orange County is, and how big that congressional district is, 5,000 votes could come down to UCI. That could come down to the students in a particular school at UCI, not even the entire student general body. And so really making sure that voters, specifically youth voters, know that their voice truly does matter, that their voice makes a difference, and that they can advocate on the local level and not just a national level is so, so important because those are the decisions and those are the policies that are going to affect every single person at every single stage in their life. Whether that be their communities, their families, or their own education. It’s something that is a multifaceted issue that they’re going to encounter.

Rodriguez:
I’ve heard so many times people say, “Oh, well I’ll vote for the presidential election, like I don’t have to vote this election.” Know what’s on your ballot! As Kylie said, like we’re empowering people to go and like actually learn what’s going to be on the ballot, because school district is up for LAUSD, the city council, your treasurer – all these little things are going to be on the ballot too, which is why your vote matters. Even if you aren’t thinking in the bigger perspective of presidency, look at it at the local perspective.

I had a conversation with a friend not too long ago. She’s like, “I don’t need to vote. California is always blue.” But it’s that one vote that can take change everything. You never know what’s going to be at stake.

Capuano:
I love that you pointed out that everything matters. I mean, just the amount of propositions on this year’s ballots – are you hearing anything about those from your peers?

Patel:
The propositions really are covering a wide variety of issues and, similar to what Kylie said, we’ve really been working – ASUCI and the Office of Civic Engagement – to let those students know about what is on the ballot and what those propositions actually mean because it’s easy to get lost. I mean, on the ballot, you’re voting for judges, you’re voting for city council, you’re voting for president and you’re voting for so many different candidates that at the end of the day when the propositions come, students are just like, let me check a box.

But those propositions are the issues and are an opportunity for students to vote on specific policies. Because usually, most of the time, you’re voting for an elected official and then the elected official votes on the policy. But the propositions are the one time where we get to put our hands in the process, where we get to make our voices heard. And so, in an effort to do that and make sure that students are educated in that, we’ve had like this nonpartisan voter guide out that really, you know, tells students and the general body – and just youth in general – what each proposition means. Because the propositions, first of all, are in legalese – it’s very difficult to understand. And so, you know, making sure that students know what that means, it’s going to make them more knowledgeable and also make the entire process to vote a lot easier.

Jones:
And I think at the end of the day, something that we really take pride in is remaining a non-partisan and non-biased source for our students. What political beliefs I might have, what political beliefs Khushi might have, what political beliefs Evelyn might have might be different, but at the end of the day, everyone has the right to know what’s on their ballot, know what a yes vote means, know what a no vote means.

It just comes down to educating not just the students but our UCI community. And, even if you have it in your bandwidth, talk to your friends back home, talk to your parents, talk to your family members, talk to the person at the grocery store. A lot of folks will believe that they’re not into politics – it’s something that’s really messy – but politics are into you. Politics guide the way that we live our life. Politics help enact our policies that we have to abide by, enact the way that we interact with each other, unfortunately, now. So, I think it’s really important that students stay engaged – that everyone stays engaged at the end of the day – because that’s the best way that we can give back to our community on the larger scale.

Rodriguez:
Punny and corny as the “Zot the Vote” initiative sounds, it’s made to encourage the nonpartisan voting. We have a toolkit also on our website that’s supposed to help guide the people into making informed decisions because I love what Kylie said: like the politics choose you – or it’s in you. That’s very true because as much as we don’t want to … maybe like, “Oh, I’m not going to be political this year, I’m not going to talk about politics.” Well, it involves you. It’s part of you. It’s going to affect you whether you like it or not.

Jones:
Evelyn, I’m really glad that you brought up the resources that the Office Civic Engagement has to share because our Associated Students are working alongside our Associate Graduate Students to really also push that voter education initiative and other resources just for students. Something that we found was really impacting students’ ability to early vote is a lack of transportation on campus. For context for folks who might not be on campus right now, our school bus system doesn’t run on the weekends. So, something that we’re partnering with our Associate Graduated Students, the Anteater Express and UCI Parking and Distribution Services, for the first time ever we will be having a “Stop, Zot N’ Vote Express.” So, it’ll be running between East Campus Housing – Vista del Campo Norte, Arroyo Vista, Verano Place and Palo Verde – and it’ll be dropping students off, or community members off, right in front of the UCI Student Center Vote Center on November 2nd and November 3rd. And then, in addition to that, we have a couple events coming up and one that I would like Khushi to highlight on Election Day.

Patel:
The event is called “Voter Palooza” and it’s going to be from 1-3 p.m. on the Student Center terrace, which is right outside of the Student Center, which is conveniently where our Vote Center is. And so, we’re going to have a lot of people there. We’re going to have the Office of Civic Engagement, AGS and ASUCI there. And so, you can feel free to come to the booths that we’re going to have – the photo booth there – and chat with any one of us on any questions that you may have, whether that’s where to drop off your ballot, where to vote, and if you need any information on a specific proposition or candidate or anything like that, we have non-partisan voter guides that are going to be available as well. And we’re also going to have people from the Office of Civic Engagement and ASUCI and AGS who are highly educated on these issues and may be able to talk to you if you want a little bit more depth on them.

Capuano:
Excellent. I’m glad you added all of those additional assets and I’ll be sure to link the resources available to our listeners in our show notes.

Well, I just want to say I see honor and recognize all of the work that the three of you are doing to both empower your friends and other people on campus. And I want to thank you for that. I want to thank you for joining us today and sharing your thoughts. This was, for me, a super enlightening conversation and frankly one I really… I needed as we approach Election Day. So, thank you three.

Jones:
Thank you very much.

Capuano:
I’m Cara Capuano. Thank you for listening to our conversation. For the latest UC Irvine News, please visit news.uci.edu. The UCI Podcast is a production of Strategic Communications and Public Affairs at the University of California, Irvine. Please subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.