By Ceoli Jacoby, Joel Lev-Tov and Allison Seidel

As election officials continue to count votes in Maryland and across the country, it remains to be seen whether or not the expected “red wave” of Republicans sweeping the U.S. House and Senate will materialize. Either way, it is clear that the college-aged demographic could be a deciding factor in this election and those to come.

University of Maryland students are among droves of Generation-Z voters across the country who are making their voices heard in nationally-watched races, including the race for Maryland’s new governor. It pitted Democrat Wes Moore against Republican Dan Cox.

Elsa Schoberg, a sophomore Spanish and secondary education major, voted for Wes Moore in large part because Moore “supported legislation introduced and passed during the 2022 legislative session that created the ballot referendum to legalize recreational marijuana in Maryland.” 

The Associated Press has called the governor’s race for Moore. Cox has conceded. This means that Moore will be Maryland’s first Black governor and the first Democratic governor since seven years ago, when Republican Larry Hogan assumed office. 

This years midterm elections also acted as a gauge of public opinion on a number of hot topics, including abortion access and election administration. 

In Maryland, voters weighed in on ballot measures including a proposal to rename the state’s appeals courts, new residency requirements for state officeholders and an amendment that would limit the right to a jury trial in civil cases where the amount in dispute is less than $25,000. One of the more controversial ballot measures was Question 4, which asked voters whether or not to legalize recreational cannabis for adults aged 21 and older starting in July 2023.

Junior Haley Hampton, a communications major, was unsure how she’d vote on the question as of Friday, Nov. 3. She said she was “not necessarily for” the referendum but was “leaning towards legalization” because of the sheer number of people already using the drug, both for medical and recreational purposes. 

Hampton planned to return home to Ellicott City and cast her ballot in-person.

“I go home every two weeks or so, so it is convenient for me,” she said. 

Maryland is projected to legalize recreational cannabis use, according to the Associated Press.

Many students exercised their right to vote by absentee ballot, including Jack Bernstein. The sophomore kinesiology major on the physical therapy track from Marblehead, Massachusetts, said that he planned to send his ballot through the mail. 

Clara Tuske, a freshman psychology major from Salisbury, Maryland, had already dropped off her mail-in ballot in-person when she went home earlier this semester. 

While voting by mail is secure and reliable, backlogs in the postal system and an extensive verification process may cause mail-in ballots to be counted later than those cast at the polls. In Maryland, all mail-in ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received no later than 10 days after Election Day. At the time of publishing, none of Maryland’s counties have tallied all of their mail-in ballots. 

Nationally, Democrats are hoping to maintain their slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, while Republicans are hoping to take back at least one chamber to block the Democrats’ agenda. 

Youth voters, defined as those between the ages of 18 and 29, will be one key demographic that will help decide the outcome of those races.

Featured photo: Campaign signs outside of the Adele H. Stamp Student Union on Nov. 9. Photo by Ceoli Jacoby.