Written by: Rosheeda Bryant

With just hours left before the close 2012 presidential election, first-time voters at The University of Akron are feeling stressed, overwhelmed and excited.

“I am feeling stressed because a lot of people are encouraging me to vote early, and I am having a hard time finding time to do so,” said Lauret Price, a sophomore mass media communication major at UA.

Throughout the semester, organizations in the Student Union and across campus encouraged first-time voters to register and to vote early. Voting website TurboVote sent out an email to all students, asking them to vote online or to request absentee ballots.

“I am an eager first-time voter,” said Donald Steplight, a junior political science and criminal justice major. “I quickly registered through TurboVote, and I voted early.”

Junior Loren Price said he was clueless about a lot of issues being discussed on the news and in campaign ads. Once he looked at the ballot, however, he felt excited about voting.

First-time voters are surrounded with information from both the Democratic and the Republican Parties, but some people, like sophomore public relations major Brittany Jay-Reed, don’t necessarily base how they vote on the media.

“I developed my political beliefs from my family; I research little about politics,” Jay-Reed said.

For first-time voters and returning voters alike, this presidential election has given people the chance to raise their voices and to question which political leader is most capable of leading our country.