“The Powerful Thing About Voting. . “
thoughts from a first-time voter
Kids Voting Durham applauds all voters, but we especially celebrate our youth Civic Leaders as they cast their first adult vote! Check out this reflection from long-time KVD youth leader Emma Busch on casting her first vote. Congratulations Emma!
Emma Busch
Because I’ll be 18 by the time of the November election, I was able to cast my very first ballot in the primaries on May 17th. And let me just say I was EXCITED. For the week before election day, I worked the fact that I would be voting into just about every conversation I had. I researched all the candidates, went to my polling station with my entire family, and took an insane amount of pictures with my “I voted” sticker. But reflecting on that day now, I realize that the voting process itself is actually somewhat mundane. I voted at a public library, on a seemingly random Tuesday afternoon. I confirmed my registration, filled in my circles, and fed my ballot to a machine. Despite this, my experience was so meaningful; largely because of my time volunteering with Kids Voting Durham.
The last few years have been eventful, politically. Consequently, it’s been an incredibly difficult time to be a young person without the ability to vote. Students are often first to feel the impacts of governmental decisions, but the last to have a say. Issues like the introduction of critical race theory to curriculum or mask mandates in public schools are recent examples of this. Debates over gun control in the wake of an ever increasing number of school shootings are deeply personal to students, though we are often excluded from these conversations. This is a frustration that motivated me to be an informed voter in my first election, but also to get involved with Kids Voting Durham way before that.
Emma with the KVD 2022 School Board Election Guide she helped create
I first became involved with KVD during the summer of my freshman year, and at that point I was really only clued into government at the national level; my understanding of the local side of things was basically Leslie Knope and Parks and Recreation. Since then, I’ve worked on three different election guides, compiling information about the candidates and their positions for Durham voters: youth and adults! I’ve gotten to create templates for our content, and make social media graphics for our Instagram adaptation. Recently, I even got to moderate a discussion panel with the 2022 candidates for school board. Through my experience, I’ve realized that the representatives elected and decisions made at the local level are often the most impactful on the lives of Durham residents. But maybe most importantly, I’ve found a community of youth who care about governmental issues as I do, and a community of adult allies who want us to care.
I think my frustration at being sidelined from political decisions combined with the enthusiasm I gained working with Kids Voting made my voting experience feel so momentous. What might have been an unexciting process instead felt really special. My first vote was the culmination of years of involvement with KVD and government at the local level; it was my moment in the spotlight after working behind the scenes! And I think that’s the powerful thing about voting: so much meaning can stem from such an ordinary act.
Emma Busch has been a Kids Voting Durham youth Civic Leader since her freshman year of high school and has helped to Kids Voting Durham Election Guides, classroom curriculum, and other civic engagement tools.
