After early voting brought historic turnout in Lubbock County — with more than 30,000 ballots cast — voters in the Hub City continued showing up on Election Day.
Texas Tech sophomore David Crampton, who came to Tech from his hometown of Fort Bend in the Houston area, voted wearing an NAACP sticker.
A member of the association’s political action committee, he said the main thing on his mind around election time is participation.
“I don't think it personally. It matters, you know, to me, how you vote, but I think just getting out and participating, everyone should do it. I think you have to do it if, if you, if you're upset with the things that are happening and you want to see a change, I think you have to come out,” Crampton said. “You can’t have a government if there aren’t people participating in it.”
In line to vote at the Student Union Building on Tech’s campus, Crampton stood by fellow Tech student from the Houston area, Claire. “Making sure that every individual is represented in our government is very important to me,” she said. “I just think that every vote matters, and it’s very important for everybody to get out and vote and do their civil duty.”Lubbock native Kaylee Moreno was also casting a ballot at the SUB, despite graduating from Tech last May.
With plans to marry this summer, she said her vote is about the future.“I hope to have children one day,” Moreno said. “So I am voting for them, for their rights and to stand up for the America that I know. So it's not completely different when they're grown up and they get to make these decisions as well.”
Sophomore Isaac DeLeon echoed the importance of voting, but said civic engagement goes beyond the ballot. “Look at the news everyone. You have to be informed. You can't just read the first headline you see. You have to read the entire article. You have to see every media, news outlet, not just, you know, one side or the other,” DeLeon said. “You have to read everything. And just ask yourself, you know, morally, you know, is this right?”
Ariel Valdez works for Covenant Health in Lubbock, she said she typically doesn’t vote in primary elections, but felt it was important to do so this time around.
“Well, just how everything's going, you know, the country, and I just wanted to make sure, you know, I used my voice,” Valdez said.
Voting on the Democratic ticket, Valdez said no matter who wins in these races, she’ll be coming back to the polls in November.
Also at the polls was Jasmine Ledezma, she is involved with local organizations like LULAC and the NAACP and is a full-time employee at a nonprofit that works with at-risk teenagers.
She said she votes in local races, federal races, primary and general elections – but there was a particular race this time around that caught her attention.
“Senate. Definitely, senate,” Ledezma said. “Definitely voted a little different than usual, just the turn of events that have kind of come down the chain that affected the schools over the past few years.”
Along with education, she is concerned about other issues that affect the families she works with, such as healthcare.
Ledezma also said it's important to create a culture that encourages voting – specifically highlighting Hispanic voters and middle-aged voters.
“We can't just complain about things and say that our vote doesn't matter when we don't show up,” she said.