"I think this is a pretty influential election and it's going to make or break a lot of things in our country. This is my first time voting, because it's such an influential election. I didn't have a family, and I guess I wasn't informed enough. Now I have a family and kids, and there's a lot of things that could change and affect us."
— Jessica Athison, DeBary.
BEACON PHOTO/NOAH HERTZ
![<p><p>"I voted for America — that's what I voted for. I voted for the way things should be, and the way I grew up, and what I defended ... It's the biggest [election] I've ever been a part of, and it's more important than anything in the world. I spent 5 1/2 years in the military, I just want to live my life, wear clothes, eat food, and have a roof over my head ... <span id="docs-internal-guid-38e622fb-7fff-25c2-1a02-06e35a156454"><span>Based on what has happened in the last six months, we need to change.</span></span> "</p><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— Robert Loria, DeLand.</em></p></p><p>BEACON PHOTO/NOAH HERTZ</p>](https://beacononlinenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/0582b4823b1741c5a86f95a31a37a8be-scaled.jpg)
![<p><p>"Because I believe in democracy, and that's a constitutional right I have as a U.S. citizen. We have too many things that can be jeopardized and [that] are at risk. It doesn't matter who wins or loses; we have to vote and show the world that this is the most democratic country in the world. Social distance, wear a mask, and go out and vote!"</p><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— Carlos Fabre, Deltona.</em></p></p><p>BEACON PHOTO/NOAH HERTZ</p>](https://beacononlinenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/05bd470305e62eb3987adf6fcee638e0-scaled.jpg)
![<p><p>"[I voted] to make my voice heard ... Since I was 18, I've voted in maybe 10, 11 [elections]. This feels like the most important. I think we will not see something like this again, at least not in my lifetime."</p><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— David Schexnayder, Deltona.</em></p></p><p>BEACON PHOTO/NOAH HERTZ</p>](https://beacononlinenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/352502de0476edd1eecffaed973861df-scaled.jpg)
![<p><p>"When you know what you had, and what the other person had when he was in power, you need to make a decision of which one was worse. I made my decision based on that: which one is less worse. [There was] a lot of noise for both parties. The last four years, I've felt happy before this. The years prior, we felt used, like they did whatever they wanted with the economy. To be honest with you, I was happy for the past four years, I want to continue being happy."</p><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— Neff Guevara, Deltona.</em></p></p><p>BEACON PHOTO/NOAH HERTZ</p>](https://beacononlinenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/cc52c3f8ed53de12fd11112de3569b8d-scaled.jpg)
![<p><p>"I voted for the Senate and the county, [but I'm] not really concerned with the Presidential election. We don’t vote for it. That’s the Electoral College, we have no say so in that ... My ancestors put a lot on the line to give me the ability to vote, so I’m out here for that as well."</p><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— Mark Joyce, DeLand.</em></p></p><p>BEACON PHOTO/NOAH HERTZ</p>](https://beacononlinenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/80ebfad16700436af426dc5908e98301-scaled.jpg)
![<p><p>"[I voted] because it's important. I feel like you can't have a say-so in what goes on in the world if you don't participate in voting. I'm 22, and I feel like it's really important that people my age that are younger care about the stuff that's going on in the world ... I think it's really important, and it's a right that a lot of people didn't have before, and I'm glad that I have that right now and I want to participate in any change that I can. I feel like every election is just as important, but I feel like this one is a little serious because of the climate of the world right now ... I'm also a Black person. A lot of these Trump supporters are white supremacists, and I'm really against all of that. I don't support Trump at all."</p><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— Jasmyne Lundy, Deltona.</em></p></p><p>BEACON PHOTO/NOAH HERTZ</p>](https://beacononlinenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/6ffd787f9c2b16304d875e73a14eec44-scaled.jpg)
![<p><p>"Civic duty. We have to. I have a 7-year-old child, and you have to teach them at an early age [that] we're lucky to live in a democracy. Regardless of who wins, we have to teach them to respect the office. I vote every four years, I haven't voted in every election, but I vote every four years ... [This election is] probably the most important one, of my lifetime, anyways. I don't feel like the country is heading in the right direction right now. This isn't the 1950s, where we're just an independent country doing separate things. We need to be ... moving away from the nationalistic, and more toward the global view of things."</p><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— Hansel Sanchez, DeLand.</em></p></p><p>BEACON PHOTO/NOAH HERTZ</p>](https://beacononlinenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/85c1475ca787aa00363f1e2fa8734fb3-scaled.jpg)
![<p><p>"[I voted for] the change this country needs — the change back to common sense and decency. It's not all about the economy. That's nice ... but there's a thing called common sense and decency that has been lacking for the last four years. I don't want to see babies in cages, [and] I don't want to see Black people shot in the street like animals and nothing's done about it. Of course, you know I'm voting for Biden. And I don't want to see the police defunded, because people that want to grab women by their private parts should be locked up ... I've only missed one election since 1984, my mom was having a heart attack and I was in the emergency room."</p><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— Carol Reeves, DeLand.</em></p></p><p>BEACON PHOTO/NOAH HERTZ</p>](https://beacononlinenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/c6ae5ac9afff477b121a3b06998515a6-scaled.jpg)
![<p><p><strong>Eric</strong>: "Well, me, I'm a convicted felon, so it's my first time voting. I'm so happy to vote. That brought me out, and I hope it brought a lot of other people out. Me and my girlfriend, we suffered from the coronavirus. It hit us kind of hard ... People are getting sick — it's not over. I just lost a close friend of mine since first grade; we went to his funeral last week."</p><p><strong>Monica</strong>: "This country is better than it's being right now, [than] what it has come to. It is sad when I have a 12-year-old daughter who has cried and is scared to go outside because she feels like because of her skin tone, she is going to be killed. Our president is teaching divisive bigotry, sexism, [and] racism. I feel like he doesn't care about anybody, with the exception of if you're a millionaire ... I know America is better than this. That small minority is being very vocal with the hatred; the majority of us, we're better than this."</p><p><strong>Eric</strong>: "We need to remain optimistic. We're Americans, we're the greatest. We're going to be OK; it's just a rough patch. We're going to be fine ... It's kind of hard right now, but we have to remain optimistic, and we'll be fine. We always have been."</p><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— Eric McClendon and Monica Simpson, DeLand. </em></p></p><p>BEACON PHOTO/NOAH HERTZ</p>](https://beacononlinenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/916999e3573f8c1dc23a85703ddb3253-scaled.jpg)
On Election Day, The Beacon went to several of West Volusia’s polling places to ask voters, “Why did you vote?”
For some, a specific candidate or issue was the main motivation to come out to the polls. But nearly everyone The Beacon spoke to agreed that voting is a civic duty that everyone should perform, and that this particular election felt very important to participate in.
