By The Editorial Board
If you didn’t wake up Wednesday morning to a full inbox and a scattered social media stream, then you might not be aware of the elections that happened Tuesday. Don’t feel bad or brainless; just know that these results have significant implications for the upcoming year and that you might want to pay closer attention next time.
Allow us to be upfront. The elections that happened Tuesday weren’t on the same scale as presidential elections, but that doesn’t mean they lack importance. Whatever changes are made in Virginia can still have an effect in Texas and vice versa. The key items include a flip in Virginia’s governor from blue to red, tight mayoral races in Minneapolis and Buffalo, N.Y., influences toward school boards and more. Besides making changes and jumps in party lines, these results play a role in how President Joe Biden’s agenda moves forward and how the country operates.
Even though there was high voter turnout in Virginia, it’s OK to not be completely knowledgeable about what happened. College students are creating a bigger presence in voting booths, and forming that database of information for yourself starts now.
However, there are two main ideas that hit home and cause a stir in Texas as well: the San Antonio House seat and refunding the police in Austin. In a special election, a House seat was taken by a Republican, which some say is telling of South Texas for 2022, as it typically switches between parties. In Austin, proposals were made to refund the police but failed dramatically. Even though many Baylor students call these two cities home, neither of these topics relate directly to Waco, yet they still hold significant influence.
On a more basic level, you must be asking, “I’m a college student who couldn’t even vote in these elections, so why should I care?” Firstly, you should care because it’s your civic duty. Also, if you don’t start paying attention now, then what will you do in five or 10 years when these policies have a more direct impact on you? It only takes 10 minutes to look at the politics tab on any major news outlet’s website and do research on what’s happening in the country. Even today, there are procedures and packages in place to make voting and registering to vote easier and more accessible for college students. If these elections happened in Waco, then the effect on Baylor’s campus would be much more intense, but that’s only if you start paying attention now.
Due to the fact that Baylor’s student population comes from all over, we aren’t going to list out every single upcoming election for you to look out for. The primaries are the next major step, with 46 states conducting elections to vote on legislative, congressional, gubernatorial and statewide offices. The other four states choose to have legislative elections in odd-numbered years, hence all the commotion now. No matter when these formal procedures take place, we should all begin preparations and have an awareness of what or who we are voting on.
Whether it’s doing research online, physically hitting the books in the library, chatting with friends and family or talking with a mentor, take steps to gain information about the political climate of the country. As college students, we are so busy with school, work and social events, but when you see information regarding an election on social media, maybe click on it instead of scrolling past it.
