After President Joe Biden’s four year term, the 47th presidential election will be finalized on Nov. 5, 2024. The political system in the United States is made up of multiple parties, but is dominated by two: the Democratic and Republican parties. Beyond the Democrats and Republicans, there are additional parties such as the Independent Party, Green Party, Libertarian Party, and Socialist Party.

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Art Spalinger (10) is a student who has been keeping tabs on the upcoming presidential election. Although he is not yet eligible to vote, Spalinger knows a “fair deal” about what’s going on. Spalinger leans more democratic, and is hoping that Joe Biden will stay in office.

“I think [Biden] is way better than his opponent, [Donald] Trump, because Trump is actively calling for himself [to become] a dictator,” Spalinger said. “Meanwhile, Biden is trying to return us to normalcy and is actually doing good on the economy. I think that, generally, our country will be better off than if we are under Trump, and I think that Biden is going to lead us more in an economically and politically correct direction.”

Spalinger does not want Trump to win the 2024 election for multiple reasons. He has many hopes for the improvement of different systems in our country and thinks that Trump would fail to fulfill these hopes.

“[Trump is] going to try and fight back against democracy like he says he’s going to,” Spalinger said. “The people he admires are Viktor Orbán and Vladimir Putin. He wants to cut Social Security and Medicare, which is not good. He supports the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which is really important to me. He’s a wannabe dictator. He’s corrupt.”

If he had control, Spalinger would like to make many changes within our country that have to do with healthcare, the war between Israel and Gaza, and educational rights.

“First of all, [if I were president], I’d make us force Israel into a ceasefire with Gaza,” Spalinger said. “I would implement a national public health care system. And I would get education reform so more people can get educated in the specific field that they’re wanting to, and also so more people can go to college without having to go into massive amounts of debt.”

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Violet Vance (12) is a student at DP who is an eligible voter for the upcoming presidential election. Vance registered to vote as a nonpartisan, but identifies more “on the Democratic side.” She has done some research on the election and knows the basics, but is still hoping to learn more. Vance is also hoping to “see more initiative being taken” by the new elected president.

“I hope [the winner of the election is] someone capable, new, young, and someone who actually knows what they’re doing,” Vance said. “I hope there’s someone who can just hear what people actually want to see be done, and actually do that. I feel like a lot gets swept under the rug, and people try to fight for a lot of stuff that never gets heard.”

Vance doesn’t want either the Democratic or the Republican candidates to win. She believes that the running candidates don’t properly “hear the voices of Americans” and don’t do “what needs to get done.”

“[I don’t want] Trump [to win], because he did get impeached,” Vance said. “So I don’t think it should be allowed for him to run. But also [I don’t want] Biden [to win] because he has been a let-down so far. I don’t want either of them to win.”

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Benjamin Potoski (12) is a student at DP who is an eligible voter for the upcoming presidential election. Potoski identifies himself as an Independent. He has claimed to have a “general understanding” of current political events.

“In an ideal world, I don’t think either the Democratic nomination or the Republican nomination would win,” Potoski said. “I feel like the polarization of the political parties don’t represent where most of the American people identify with. I would hope that an Independent, such as a Libertarian, would win. But that’s not a realistic scenario. If I had to choose between the Republican or the Democratic candidate, I’d probably choose a Democrat.”

Potoski hopes Trump will not win due to Trump’s indictments and ongoing legal proceedings.

“Overall, when you take a look at all of these things, the fact that you would want to vote in a president who is under investigation for multiple crimes, and who has actually been convicted of sexually harassing and defaming [E. Jean Carroll]—it’s just not someone I want in office,” Potoski said. “Trump is a populist, and populists are really good at inciting very quick, rapid change in our country … I’m incredibly concerned that Donald Trump would be bad for democracy.”

Following the election, Potoski is hoping to see certain changes, the biggest of which is affordable healthcare.

“[Health care is] very expensive, and it’s not affordable for everyone,” Potoski said. “Health insurance companies take so much money …. A lot of money gets routed through our healthcare system. And a lot of it gets routed through the insurance companies. So ideally, if you can take the middleman, the insurance companies, out of it by providing subsidized health care, where the insurance provider is the US government, then insurance will become cheaper, because no one will need it.”

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The Charger Account attempted to interview multiple people identifying with the Republican Party, but they declined to comment on the election.