While more than half a million Cuyahoga County voters cast ballots in Tuesday鈥檚 general election, residents like Latoya Butler stayed home.
鈥淧eople don鈥檛 care anymore,鈥� Butler, a 57-year-old Cleveland resident said Tuesday as she waited for a bus. 鈥淎s an African-American woman, I just feel like Trump 鈥� he is like the first president that I feel like just outright in our face does not care about the minorities. He does not care. And it's like, how do you go on and vote for someone and you really don't know. You know, it's like, I don't know who to vote for.
鈥淪o I just chose to not vote.鈥�
Many non-voters share Butler鈥檚 sentiment: Their vote, they say, doesn鈥檛 matter.
And while the United States voting base has recently turned out in historic numbers, with about two-thirds of the voting-eligible population showing up for the 2020 presidential election, millions of Americans still opt to stay home.
In Cuyahoga County, in Tuesday鈥檚 election.
Why?
Maurice Worship, a 34-year-old Cleveland resident who works at Marc鈥檚 grocers, said his reason was simple: 鈥淭oo lazy.鈥�
Worship said he鈥檚 disenchanted with politics and politicians and that he feels like his vote 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 matter.鈥�
鈥淣ot much would change,鈥� he said Tuesday, unless former President Donald Trump were elected. He said a 鈥渓ot of bad stuff鈥� happened since President Joe Biden assumed office, citing the war in Ukraine. Trump clinched a victory Wednesday morning over Vice President Kamala Harris.
While lack of trust in the system or political apathy may keep voters at home, more practical obstacles, such as work schedules, transportation issues or not having proper identification, are deterrents for some voters.
A man who said his name was Troy G was waiting for a bus late Tuesday afternoon after he got off work. He said he wouldn鈥檛 be making the trek to the polls because he just wanted to go home after a long shift.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 get to vote today,鈥� he said. 鈥淛ust leaving it in faith. Me personally, I just look at it like, I feel like my vote don鈥檛 really matter. The world鈥檚 going to go the way it goes.鈥�
Some typical non-voters changed their minds
But some Americans, like Jim Furr, refused to accept that.
Furr, a barista in Cleveland鈥檚 Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood, stood behind the bar of the Gypsy Bean wearing an 鈥淚 Voted鈥� sticker for the first time in five years.
鈥淚 had to go vote for my conscience,鈥� Furr said. 鈥淚t was an important election for me to vote for my conscience and vote for women's health and vote for certain things鈥� I have a privilege to do it.鈥�
Furr said he doesn鈥檛 consider himself a political person: In fact, he said, he is a gay man who didn鈥檛 ever vote in favor of same-sex marriage and never thought that deeply about it until his gay friend told him he鈥檇 like to one day be married.
鈥淭hen it was just a simple light switch,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o this time, I listened to the people around me.鈥�
What brought him to the polls this year was that Harris offered something 鈥渄ifferent,鈥� even if he wasn鈥檛 pleased with all her policy positions. He said he would ultimately like to see the two-party system abolished, but recognizes it鈥檚 the system America currently operates under, which is what compelled him to vote.
鈥淚've been silent, I guess, for five years because I really didn't see any important things going on,鈥� Furr said. 鈥淏ut I really do believe that some people have the goodwill in mind for all of us. And then some people don鈥檛.鈥�
