In a last-ditch effort to educate voters, New Tech High School government students created their own election gallery Monday afternoon to tell students, staff and the community about Tuesday's gubernatorial race, House race and the five ballot measures voters will weigh.
Meant to inform and not persuade, multiple first-time voters were paired with their peers to set up round tables and answer questions by passers-by about the importance of being informed prior to casting their ballots.
What made you decide to vote this year? "I've been wanting to do this for quite a while. My sister is very into politics, and when she turned 18 and started talking politics with my parents, I thought this was kind of interesting. But I wasn't educated back then, and this year, I got educated. That makes me super excited because I'm now going into the ballot booth knowing how I want to vote and what I want to vote on, what I feel is important for the state of South Dakota."
What issue or race are you most passionate about and why? "The governor's race has captured my attention because we have two completely different people going for the same position, and they're campaigning completely differently. I like both of the people equally, so this will be a hard decision for me to make. I'm leaning toward Billie Sutton, but I still have a little research I want to do before I make that choice. The way he campaigned, Kristi (Noem) went dirty a little more than Billie did, and I didn't like that.
What made you decide to vote this year? "It's scary in some ways, but I'm actually excited because I get to do something most people don't get to do to basically help get the word out there for something important."
What issue or race are you most passionate about and why? "There's not really a race I'm invested in right now because I'm still learning what each race means. When I was younger, I wasn't in those social study classes or history classes. Now, being a senior and learning about it, it's interesting to learn what everything means."
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What made you decide to vote this year? "It's going to be pretty exciting and cool. A couple weeks before my birthday, it was like, 'Oh, I get to vote.' Now it's like, 'Oh, I get to vote. Nice.'"
What issue or race are you most passionate about and why? "Since (my group) is doing IM-25, I kind of want to vote yes for that because it's going to help tech schools a lot, and indirectly, in my opinion, help (people) stop smoking. A lot of people hate it, and I think they hate it either because they are smokers themselves or they don't think the money will be used properly because it's a tax on tobacco and tobacco products."
Name: Nick Even, 17, turns 18 in about a month, meaning he can't vote Tuesday but will get to watch his peers cast their ballots for the first time.
What makes voting important to you? "It's important we know who we vote for and that it makes an impact. Whenever you vote, don't vote for somebody random. Actually think about it and know why."
If you could vote, what would you vote for and why? "I'd maybe vote for Kristi Noem because I know more about her, and we're researching her."
What made you decide to vote this year? "Honesty, if I wasn't in this class, I wouldn't have ever known about any of these people. I've only seen Tim Bjorkman and Kristi Noem (campaign) signs. Without this class, I wouldn't have thought to vote at all."
What issue or race are you most passionate about and why? "We're learning all about George Hendrickson, and there's a lot of information we have on him: how he's a libertarian, how his son has a (disability) and how he used to be a person not involved in politics. He knows what the people want, and I think that makes him sound really good. I'll probably vote for him, yes."