Whether they base their vote on financial, social or other reasons, students have the opportunity to express their views in the 2010 election.

Below is what a few students chose to base their vote off of:

“I’m more about funding at least for right now for the school. The type of work I do is all tied up at least in federal funding,” said Robert Weintraub, graduate student in LAS.

“I identify with the Democratic Party, so that influenced a lot of my decisions,” said Dawn Bangert, freshman in LAS. “Also, I know some people that were working on a local campaign here, so that also influenced my decision.”

“The main reason why I voted for (Bill Brady) was because he’s very pro-life,” said Dana Lange, junior in LAS and member of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students.

“Kirk has a plan but doesn’t have anything behind it. He wanted to not raise taxes but wanted money all over Illinois,” said Mike Staszel, freshman in Engineering.

“I voted for Quinn based on social issues. I didn’t agree with the death penalty of the Republican candidate and women’s rights,” said Mary Rooney, sophomore in DGS.

“I voted for Quinn and Giannoulious. I just don’t agree with Kirk or Brady. I think Kirk has been there for too long and I disagree with his policies,” said Dean Graves, master’s student.

“I am against cutting funding for education. Brady wants to butcher education funding from 80 million to 40 million, which I don’t agree with. Also, Quinn wants to increase taxes by 1% for education funding. I think in this case, everyone’s pile of poop stinks, it’s just deciding whose stinks the least,” said Ben Barber, first time voter.

“I care a lot about social security, taxes, and of course education, since I’m a student,” said Christina Poon. “I normally vote early, but I forgot this time.”

“I wanted to get Kirk in office, that’s my main thing. I definitely didn’t want somebody whose close to Blagojevich back in office,” said Dan Papas, senior in Business. “I don’t like Democrats. I think with the deficits that they have right now, I think a Republican definitely needs in.”

“I came out due to the extremely terrible conditions of our country,” said Connor Birk, senior in LAS. Birk also

said he is looking for “less corruption in Washington.”

“I’m not particularly excited by the candidates. I guess (I chose) the lesser of two evils. (I voted for) Alexi Giannoulias, because I’m for cap-and-trade,” said Ryan Zotti, junior in Business.

“I voted based off of the fiscal spending (of the government) and social issues. I think that a lot of students are voting based off of their views on Healthcare and corruption,” Elanor Meisner, freshman in LAS said.

“I think that a lot of people are voting off of the issues about Health care, but some are also going off of social issues like gay marriage,” Liana Nickles, sophomore in LAS said. “A lot of friends said they are going to vote but a lot of people on my floor are just not informed about the election and where it is taking place, I feel that things are slow right now because a lot of people are in classes but some people are just not informed.”

“I mostly voted Democratic for the Congress, but Republican for the state because one of the candidates talked about giving more funding to (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagin) and I feel like that was important,” Raj Patel, freshman in Engineering said.

“I was really excited to vote, so I did legit research on each candidate,” said Raquel Levy, sophomore in LAS. “The two main issues I looked at were health care reform and the state budget.” She added that she was interested primarily in the governor’s race but felt it was still important to vote for local politicians since they will represent her for the next three years.

“I voted for the Democratic party because I am extremely liberal, however I am a little dissatisfied with the party but I believe that there will be reactionary changes if the Republicans get a majority in Congress,” said Daniel Werst, freshman in LAS. Werst also said that he felt like a lot of other people are thinking about government spending when they go in to vote and some other bigger issues like Healthcare.

“I feel like people are uninformed about the candidates because of the fact that a lot of the advertisements that I saw on TV were attacking other people and telling people who not to vote for instead of talking about what the candidate believes in,” said Trevor Densmore, junior in Business.

Many students at LAR were first time voters who discussed the economy and the job market as important issues.

First Time voter Amanda Lawler, sophomore in Business, said, “It feels good, I decided to vote because I researched the candidates this time so I felt like a knowledgeable voter with an opinion.”

First time voter Lauren Roe, sophomore in advertising, said, “I believe my opinion matters and it’s just my responsibility.”

“I came to vote simply to keep the Republican party out of office,” Jasmine Wright, freshman in Media said. “My mom voted the same and this is my first time voting, so I thought I’d do it as well.”

“A lot of my influences in voting came from the newspapers and online news sites,” Chris Demetriou, Senior in Engineering said. “I’m voting mainly on the issue of state funding for the school. We need as much money as we can get.”

“The issues I came to vote for are women’s health issues, education, and reforms for education,” Sarah Peaceman, freshman in Law said. “The state can definitely improve in all of these aspects.”

Kristie Cobb, senior in Engineering, said that the economy in Illinois was key to her decisions. Cobb also said that negative commercials made her turn against the person who put out the commercial.

Kelly Moran, freshman in Education, said that it was her responsibility as a student in Illinois and as a US citizen to vote. “I researched for governor and US Senate, but not for Champaign county because I’m not really from here. Everything on the ballot was very clear.”

Christine Nichols, freshman in DGS, said that she would vote herself, rather than letting other people decide who is going to be involved in politics.

“I actually spent time in the last couple of weeks researching and filled out a survey online that matched my values and opinions with the candidates,” Nichols said.

Rebecca Iverson, junior in Education said, “I think it’s really important for people to use their right to vote. I don’t think people should complain about our government if they don’t vote.”

Michael Brandt, an election judge at the YMCA, said many people had to be turned away because the size of the precinct was so small and many people were confused on where they were supposed to vote.

“Gay rights, healthcare, but I think Republicans are going to take over anyway so I don’t know how much my vote matters,“ said Kevin Ng, sophomore in Community Health.