Undecided Voters in the Election
“They’re the key factor in determining who wins. Neither can win without swaying undecided voters.” -Charlie, 17, student.
Undecided voters are important in every election, but in 2016 their influence has increased, with one in every nine Americans being undecided. Due to the incredible levels of negativity and hate this election season, it is possible that these undecided voters may make their decision as they go into the polls.
Swing states have major influence over every election, but this year they can help decide who will come out victorious. If Donald Trump can win enough of the major battleground states he can win the election, but that means he has to convince undecided voters. The media has constantly said that he cannot win because the support is just not there. If he is able to get the swing states necessary to win, then obviously the support was there.
The “purple” states affect all elections. Every swing state is important but there are a couple that can give a candidate a good portion of the electoral votes needed. “Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina and Virginia come with a combined 66 electoral votes, or 24 percent of the 270 needed to win the election.”
When asked how the undecided population will affect this election, Alan, 48, said, “It’s going to be a last minute decision by those who have not chosen their candidate, and it will be a toss up right at the last minute.” He is not the only one that thought this; when interviewing people in Pennsylvania many people said the same thing or that they were one of those people. When people go to the polls and decide who they are voting for when they sit down they are only thinking about the last thing they saw. Social media now becomes a big part of campaigns, making sure things that are released are going to help you rather than hurt you. If people look at their phones and then walk in they will most likely see something about a candidate and either vote for them because it was good, or not vote for them because it is bad.
It is difficult to understand the mindset of someone who is still undecided, especially so close to the election. For some people they are still undecided because they are confused on their beliefs on certain issues. If a person is trying to decide their views on a certain issue, the two candidates most likely have very different stances, making it hard to decide. Republicans think that the government should have a more hands off while Democrats should have a more hands on approach. If a voter has no idea what they want then they will have a harder time deciding on a candidate. Others are undecided because they did not pay attention to the news so they do not really know what the issues are and what the candidates’ stances are. According to the YouGov data collected since June, only 29 percent of undecided voters pay attention to the news “most of the time.”
Most of the undecided voters this year are the same people that did not know who they were voting for in 2012. Back then about nine percent of the voters polled decided who they were going to vote for within a couple of weeks of the election. Many people this year feel as though this election is really just choosing between the lesser of two evils, causing them to still be undecided.
Voters do not want to have to choose between two people they do not like. In most elections when trying to decide between two people they won’t like one but the other is not that bad. This year that is the opposite: while talking to people many of them have said they are scared either way. They feel that no matter who the president is there will be groups of people that will be isolated and bills that come out of the office they will not help anyone.
This year millennials have become so much more important than the “baby boomers.” There is a larger population of millennials voting this year and less “baby boomers,” even though they are still there they are not going to be as influential as they have in the past because the amount of young voters is larger. For the next couple of elections the millennials will be very important because they are becoming a larger portion of the voters, and candidates will need to gain their support to try and win the election. Many millennials though might be voting for the first time so they do not know what they believe in and are undecided. Candidates need to show how they will fight for millennials and show them their policies.
The second presidential debate featured questions from undecided voters. The Wall Street Journal interviewed some undecided voters after the debate and asked them what they thought about Donald Trump’s performance. Garrett Thacker, an undecided voter from Ohio, said ‘“I feel that the way he talks to other people, the way that he addresses other people, can be extremely rude and extremely disrespectful, and I don’t think that’s the temperament we should be looking for in a president.” When people go to the polls thinking this they may be swayed to vote for Clinton because they do not want the president to act like that. After the debate there was also a poll that said that neither candidate gained any voters. Yolanda Grimes describes herself as a Democrat but said because of the debate she feels like she cannot trust Hillary Clinton and that she was unlikely to vote for her. In a recent Fox News broadcast, they showed a conversation with undecided voters after the second presidential debate. At the focus group Frank Luntz asked “Who was the most impactful candidate?” The majority of the group said Trump. This showed that people were swayed his way after enough push. Trump has been able to gain undecided voters interest by the way he has handled Clinton and his past actions.
This year undecided voters will be one of the most important groups of voters because of how close the race is. Both candidates need to win this group and show them how they will help them if they win the presidency. Undecided voters in swing states might help tip this election. Undecided voters could go in a decide their vote right there, showing everyone how tough a race this is.
