Pauline Laurore, 36, born and raised in Miami, never thought she would skip voting in a presidential election. But this year, she just might.
Coming from a conservative family that supported President Joe Biden in 2020, she now says, “[Voting for him] was a big mistake.” But she’s no fan of former President Donald Trump, either.
“If forced to vote, I would do it for Trump, but just if I really have to,” said Laurore, an independent, adding that she is appalled that the former president targets migrants because her parents are immigrants, too. “They help to build this country,” she said, calling this presidential election a choice between the “least worst.”
Caplin News interviewed 50 South Florida voters who are either undecided as to who they will back in November or are so turned off by the candidates and their campaigns that they plan to take a pass on casting a ballot.
That group of still-undecided voters are the ones who could decide the outcome of the presidential election this fall. Florida used to be a swing state, however; now is leaning toward Trump. An 8 percent of the electorate would not vote for Biden or Trump if the election were held today, according to a recent poll by Florida Atlantic University.
“Undecided voters want another option,” said Michael Binder, the director of the University of North Florida’s public opinion research and author of the book “Florida and the 2016 Election of Donald J. Trump.” “They might ‘never be Trumpers’ and are ‘never Bidens’. Voters who are under 35 are the ones who really are interested in seeing what else is out there.”
For Katherine Rivera, a 23-year-old Salvadoran-American who works as a banker associate in Miami, this would have been her first time casting a ballot.
“We really don’t have good options this year so I decided not to vote,” said Rivera.
“I’m not undecided. I just don’t want to vote for any of the candidates,” said Adelaida Hernandez, a middle-aged Colombian-American woman who lives in Miami and works at a restaurant. “Trump is under legal charges and Biden has made inflation grow, so my vote will be blank.”
Andrew Kasprik, 55, says he’s not happy with the choices in this election, either.
“The Democratic Party has gone a little too far left and the Republican Party has gone a little too far right,” said Kasprik, a Democrat who voted for Biden in 2020. “I have a lot of issues with both of the candidates. I follow politics very closely, I know [the candidates] very well, and it’s more likely that I won’t vote for any of them.”
He added that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., if he makes the ballot in Florida, which likely won’t be determined until August, isn’t a viable option for him.
“A lot of things are happening. I don’t know what is going to happen with Trump’s charges. Biden hasn’t done many things either,” said Fredy Lazo, 52, who was born in Miami to Nicaraguan parents. Lazo said he still can’t make up his mind about either Trump or Biden, but still does plan on voting in November.
Wesley Twiggs, a 26-year-old restaurant worker who is passionate about jogging, said he’s still weighing his options.
“I voted the last two times for the Republican candidates, but people keep breaking their promises,” Twiggs said. “You never know who they are loyal to. I will take care of my personal life.”
Thinking about the presidential election, Laurore, the 36-year-old Miamian who may not vote this year, had two words to sum up how she feels:
“Politics sucks!”