With the 2024 primary elections rapidly approaching, many newly eligible Trojan voters are preparing to cast their first-ever ballots on March 5. 

Bryce Blaugrund, a freshman majoring in human biology, turned 18 in September. Now that he’s finally old enough to vote, Blaugrund said he’s excited to begin participating in the democratic process. 

Daily headlines, sent straight to your inbox.

Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with the latest at and around USC.

“It feels good to be able to contribute to the society that I’ve grown up in and to be able to share my voice and be able to make a difference,” Blaugrund said. 

In a survey published Feb. 23 by Statista, the top three most important issues for voters in the United States were inflation, healthcare and immigration. 

This election cycle, Blaugrund said one of his main concerns is “social justice,” and his first priority is to “vote for people who want to make genuine progress and work towards a world without harm and with more equality.”

Students will be able to drop off their ballots any time before 8 p.m. on March 5 at one of the University’s vote-by-mail ballot boxes if they do not want to use their own mailboxes or drive to the dropbox at the Los Angeles County Department of Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. This year, there is a vote-by-mail ballot box next to the USC Village Target and another at the Health Sciences Campus Conference Center. 

Thanks to efforts led by numerous campus organizations including VoteSC, the USC Political Union, University Relations, and the USC Center for the Political Future, students and community members can also go to the USC Village Vote Center to vote and complete the same-day voter registration process if they were unable to register before Feb. 20.

Eli Scott, the president of the USC Political Union, was one of the many students who helped organize voter initiatives for the primaries. For this election, Scott said he was particularly passionate about connecting students with the resources they need to vote in their home states. 

“I’m registered to vote in Texas, and I will continue to vote in Texas as long as I can,” said Scott, a senior majoring in philosophy, politics and law. “People don’t know that they can still vote in their own state, and in states like Texas, or Mississippi … it’s very important for them to vote.” 

In 2020, a study by Tufts University found that USC had the fourth-highest student voter turnout in the country. Kamy Akhavan, the executive director of the Center for the Political Future, said he hopes to see more initiatives encouraging increased voter engagement from students on campus. 

“The truth is, the younger a person is when they get involved in politics and vote, the more likely they are to do that for the rest of their lives,” Akhavan said. “[For USC] to champion that civic engagement is a gift to someone for life, so we don’t take that window of opportunity for granted.”

This election season, Blaugrund said he hopes to see more young people going out to vote. 

“I definitely think that young people should vote to be able to share their voice and make an impact,” Blaugrund said. “If they don’t, then the people that are running the government will only reflect the voices of people that don’t represent them and don’t share the same opinions.” 

Although Akhavan is passionate about increasing student voter turnout, he said showing up to vote is not enough.

“We think [USC is] the best school in the country, and we want to be number one. The only way to get to number one is to make it part of our practice to be civically engaged,” Akhavan said. “Voting is the least of it. Of course you gotta vote. We’ve got to be involved in our communities. We’ve got to participate in driving the change that we want to see in the world.”