Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
A spirit that is not afraid

Amendments, unopposed races bring Auburn voters to the polls

<p>Voters head to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018 in Auburn, Ala.&nbsp;</p>

Voters head to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018 in Auburn, Ala. 

Rain or shine, Auburn residents are hitting the polls Tuesday morning for Alabama’s general elections.

Voters have until 7 p.m. to submit their ballots for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state supreme court justice, secretary of state and state auditor.

The positions of state treasurer and agricultural commissioner are currently running unopposed as well as the House of Representatives’ District 7.

There are also amendments that address abortion, the place of the Ten Commandments in schools and other government buildings and changes to the University of Alabama's board of trustees.

Below are some thoughts from voters at the polls:


On the amendments

Paige Goldschmidt, an Auburn resident, said amendments one and two were at the top of her list to vote on.  

“I had a big issue with both of them, so I was voting no to them,” Goldschmidt said.

Goldschmidt also said she is worried about issues like immigration and education.

“I’m excited to see how education changes in the state of Alabama; that’s what I'm really interested in, like doing away with standardized testing and the stuff with immigration,” Goldschmidt said. “Now, some of the candidates, like Mallory Hagan, were interested in working with the people coming into the country instead of just barring it.”

Grace Friedenreich, senior in psychology, said the amendments pertaining to abortion and the Ten Commandments were not given enough explanation on the ballots.

“The way it was worded, it seemed like they were trying to make it seem like they were trying to confuse you or sway your votes,” Friedenreich said. “They also didn’t put the entire amendment on the ballot; it’s supposed to be longer, but they cut off part of it.” 

Brandon Nolen, senior in visual media, agreed with Friedenreich about the wording of the amendments.

“The ballots used a lot of the same repetitive things to trip you up. It seemed like they were trying to mislead you,” Nolen said. “Abortion was the one that was worded the trickiest. It felt like they were trying to sway towards voting 'yes.'”

Andrew Anderson, junior in sociology, said the amendments were the main reason for getting out to vote.

“ I think [the abortion amendment] is an important issue, so I wanted to make sure to get out and vote for that definitely,” Anderson said. 

On more voters, uncontested offices for election

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Auburn Plainsman delivered to your inbox

Ed Youngblood, associate professor of media studies at Auburn University, said he is happy to see so many people voting in this election, but he is concerned about the number of offices running unopposed.

“Uncontested elections always bother me a bit,” Youngblood said. “I don’t care which side of the party is running uncontested, but I’d like to see someone qualified running against.”

Devin Lane, Auburn resident, thinks the sheer amount of information and issues being voted on this election is the reason for the rise in voters for this election. However, for the unopposed offices, it doesn’t make a difference.

“It is kind of weird to me that people run uncontested because it’s just an easy win, but I mean this is the first time that it really jumped out to me,” Lane said. “I mean, at least half of the people on there are running uncontested.” 

Jana Womack, Auburn resident, also finds the number of offices running unopposed to be a problem.

“I wish there would be more people; it’s that mentality of 'oh well, they're going to win,'” Womack said.  “I wish there wasn’t so much of that — that people would take ownership of their own communities and state.” 

Womack also said she wished the amendments were explained on the ballots better.

“I didn’t realize that there was an amendment on abortion, so I wish I was more educated on that," Womack said.

On change

Jacob Varner, second-year MBA student at Auburn University, said he has lived in Alabama his whole life and doesn’t like the where it is heading.

“I’ve been in Alabama for my whole life, and I am tired of the trajectory that it’s on, so I am just trying to vote for people of change,” Varner said. “I think, across the board, I think people will vote just for their party and they don’t really look into the issues.”

Varner also believes that people focus on the candidates instead of what they will do about the big issues. 

“I think a lot of people hitch a wagon to our president, one way or another, and I wish we would focus on more of the issues,” Varner said.

“I don’t see much change in anything,” said Tim Henry, sophomore at Southern Union. “I wish people would get out and support and fight for what they want.”

Sarah Price, senior in political science and history, said she is excited because of the change that could come. 

“I'm really happy with the broad spectrum of issues that are being covered,” Price said. "There is always a lot of controversy around these elections, so there is a lot of focus on that whenever there could have been more focus on the issues that matter more."


Share and discuss “Amendments, unopposed races bring Auburn voters to the polls” on social media.