Election Eve

In Mid-July when President Joe Biden informed Kamala Harris that he intended on dropping out of the 2024 presidential election, the Vice President answered the phone call in the comfort of her home, completing a puzzle with her grandnieces.

It is Election Eve, yet the puzzle remains incomplete. The result between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump may as well be a coin toss. The final piece of the puzzle may be a policy that maximizes their campaigns until the end, with Americans ultimately deciding the trajectory of their country.

USC students have named a variety of different issues as their primary focus heading into the election including abortion, war involvements, and civil rights and privileges. In fact, it has become a common sighting seeing students dropping off their ballots on their way to class.

Sophomore Andrew Skinner is more concerned about people's rights than legal policies. “The most important issue right now is the right to bodily autonomy.” Skinner is from Chicago where he voted early when he went back home. This, as well as women’s rights, were a priority to him.

Women’s rights have been a prevalent topic of discussion since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 by Republican Supreme Court Justices. Andrew represents the male population at USC who sympathize and support abortion rights. Senior Brice Brown went one step further in identifying the problem at large.

“Abortion is a very divisive topic to separate pro-lifers and pro-choicers,” Brown said in an interview. As a Floridian voter, Brice requested his absentee ballot too late and therefore was unable to vote. His answer proves that abortion is bigger than itself. It is balkanizing the nation while sacrificing the rights for both parties involved.

Other polarizing policies have been argued for as the most titanic reason for voting. Aneesa Monet, a senior, disagreed with the Biden-Harris administration’s treatment of the Israeli Palestinian War. “The US has a history of isolationism [...] because they think ‘we have the most privilege’, therefore we don’t have to worry about them [other countries].”

Kennedy Coats, a senior from Chicago, thought local things like propositions, are more important policies. “Legal slavery is on the ballot in two states.” She is referring to California and Nevada Proposition 6, which permits involuntary servitude as punishment for crime.

“The presidential election is also important because of the implications it has beyond the actual presidency.” Coats further clarifies that this includes the formation of the Supreme Court. “When several Justices were questioned, a lot of them said they would not touch Roe v. Wade.”

Democrat or Republican, policies may strip or revive our rights in the future. The most pressing policy issue is different for all voters. It will wax and wane like a tangram. But once complete, and by whoever elected, it will certainly leave a moot portrait of America beyond.