Meg Wallace, News editor 

With campaign season for the 2024 presidential election coming to a close, voters are expected to make a decision at the polls on Nov. 5. The candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have been campaigning with a series of rallies and one presidential debate.  

Vice presidential candidates Tim Walz and JD Vance have been working alongside them, and recently held their own debate on Oct. 1.  

I conducted a survey of nearly 100 female students at the University of Montevallo regarding the 2024 Presidential Election to gauge their opinions and concerns.  

The survey was titled Women Voters of Montevallo and was available for any female students with internet access. The survey was designed to be representative of the female population of students at UM. 

Survey respondents were asked to choose what issue they found most important when choosing who to vote for. The issues listed were abortion, gun violence, economic policies, gender and sexuality issues and religion.  

Survey respondents were also given the opportunity write in issues of their choosing if the issue they found most important wasn’t listed.  

Out of the women interviewed, nearly 90% say they would be exercising their right to vote for the first time. Despite having the opportunity to vote before, several women that responded to this survey are 21 years old and voting in an election for the first time. 

Of the women surveyed, 5% identified themselves as independent on the political spectrum, yet are still choosing to vote in the election. Of these women, all but one say they are voting for Harris. The one outlier said they are voting for a third unlisted candidate. 

Of the women surveyed, 88.7% cited access to abortions as the issue most important to them when determining their preferred candidate.  

One wrote, “As a 20-year-old woman, I believe that having rights to my own body is super important.”  

Another, 21, wrote, “I’m terrified of how the Trump Administration would further restrict reproductive healthcare access for women in our country. I’ve heard horror stories of women not able to receive lifesaving operations during miscarriages and other medical complications because of abortion bans, and it makes me terrified to even consider starting a family.”  

Amber Nicole Therman, a Georgia woman, died after her access to reproductive healthcare was delayed. She left behind a six-year-old son. 

With abortion bans becoming more commonplace, and the threat of a nationwide ban in the event of Trump winning the election, several women surveyed said they found this election to be the most important in a while.  

“It is vital to the future generation of women that I use my voice to advocate not only for myself but for them as well,” writes one student, 19.  

One student shared their experience regarding sexual violence and how it affected their views on politics. “I promised myself that a man would never make a decision about my body again,” they wrote. 

While the majority of respondents who cited abortion as a pressing issue are voting for Harris, that is not the case for all. 

One respondent, who said they’d be voting for Trump, wrote, “Until we come together as true bodies of Christ and make decisions that will not only affect us but our children and future families, this world will remain in chaos.”  

Following abortion in order of frequency were gun violence, gender and sexuality and the economy. On the topic of gun violence, one student writes, “There’s just so much gun violence in this country that I’m genuinely scared for siblings and family members to be at school.”  

Someone who listed gender and sexuality as a pressing issue wrote, “As a queer, disabled women, this election scares me, but I will not let it deter me from fighting for my rights.”  

Another respondent emphasized the importance of economic policies when choosing who to vote for. 

They said, “We must first be united in economy before other issues such as abortion, gun laws, etc. can be touched on.” 

An issue that was independently written in by multiple respondents was the Israel-Palestine conflict.  

Something 99% agree on is that they will be voting in November. One wrote, “I vote for the women who came before me that weren’t given that option.” 

Another wrote, “I think voting is very important because one vote can change the whole dynamic of an election.” 

One left a suggestion for other students: “This is my first time voting in an election and I am doing absentee mail-in voting. It is a fairly simple process that other college students far away from their permanent address should look into!” 

Information on absentee ballots can be found on USA.gov. The deadline to request an absentee ballot in Alabama is Oct. 29, but certain deadlines may vary depending on the city.