My First Voting Experience: Jeremiah Mudge, Maryland

This snapshot was gathered in conjunction with the Maryland Voices initiative at Maryland Humanities, specifically to supplement the "Voices and Votes: Democracy in America" traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program. This collection, made up of stories of first-time voters between the ages of 18 and 24, showcases the experiences of young people as they wrestled with the 2020 presidential election, issues around social justice, the environment, immigration, and the pandemic. 

Jeremiah Mudge (00:00): Hello, I'm Jeremiah Mudge I am a student at Allegheny Community College in Maryland.

Jeremiah Mudge (00:08): So, I think it was freshman year, probably is about when I started getting into politics and I started doing more than just hearing the name of president and stuff. So I got interested around freshman year and then when I got my driver's license, I believe my junior year, is when I registered as a Republican to vote. And pretty much from my freshman year, I already knew who I was thinking about voting for.

Jeremiah Mudge (00:39): And then this year, I think the only Republican that ran was Donald Trump, I don't believe anyone else even ran against him. So that clearly shows who I voted for. I went down ballot, full Republican. It was very exciting, I showed up at my school, because of COVID they limited the voting ballots to only at the schools rather than the local churches or the other places we would have normally gone.

Jeremiah Mudge (01:08): We went really early because with this election and with COVID, we knew the lines would be super long, and I think it was about half hour wait to even get in before we could vote. It was an interesting process, definitely different because of COVID and all, and with how big the selection was. But it was definitely one I'll remember.

Jeremiah Mudge (01:31): I definitely feel empowered. There was a lot of drama with this election and a lot of emotions. And I felt really at ease after I voted, I know lots of people are worried and anxious, but I felt like what I did was right for me. So I felt really happy. I got into politics freshman year, so it's been four years that I've been waiting to finally make an impact at all and even if it's just one vote, I still felt very empowered, I would say with my vote.

Asset ID: 2021.03.10.c
Themes: College, politics, voting, Republican party, Donald Trump, COVID-19, empowerment
Date recorded: January 29, 2021
Length of recording: 02:10 m
Related traveling exhibition: Voices and Votes: Democracy in America
Sponsor or affiliated organization: Allegany Museum, in partnership with Maryland Humanities
More information: https://www.mdhumanities.org/programs/museum-on-main-street/2021-2022-tour/