Syracuse voters head to the polls in presidential primary election
Voters head to the polls in presidential primary
New Yorkers cite democracy, support for President Joe Biden as primary reasons for voting Tuesday.
Despite President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump having already clinched the Democratic and Republican Parties’ respective nominations for November’s election last month, voters in New York headed to the polls on Tuesday to cast their votes in the state’s stand-alone presidential primary election.
Although both Biden and Trump have amassed enough delegates to secure their nominations, Syracuse voters expressed that their desire to have their voices heard and participate in American democracy drove them to turn out.
Evelyn Kinsey, a 68-year-old voter, said she wanted to exercise her “God-given right” to vote, especially given the suffrage struggles of women and Black voters throughout American history.
“It’s important to vote, no matter what it is — primary or regular election or what it is,” she said. “We are going to vote, especially African Americans because we had to fight for this right, and women had to fight for this right. So, we’re going to exercise that right.”
Given her satisfaction with the direction the country has been heading in under Biden’s leadership, Kinsey said she used her vote to support the president and his efforts to reduce the student loan debt crisis and inflation as well as build new infrastructure.
Similar to Kinsey, David Kirby, a 74-year-old voter, said that everyone should exercise their right to vote. He also voted for Biden.
“He’s the best choice we have,” he said. “He’s been a good president for us. He’s put in place a lot of good programs. His philosophy and his leadership have done really good things for this country and I think we should continue for another four years.”
However, some voters were not driven to vote because of a particular candidate, but rather for the institution of democracy as a whole.
Esther Zorn, a realtor who said people should not publicly share the candidate they cast their ballot for, said she went to the polls because of her belief in voting and the idea of people having their voices heard.
“My mother always taught me that religion and politics is a private matter,” she said. “I think it’s very important that as a country, more and more, we keep it private. It’s really nobody else’s business — but it is everybody’s business to vote.”
