With an election coming up, KALW headed to San Francisco’s Civic Center to ask people how they feel about voting.
"I never really voted," says Daniel Dena who was at the skate park near Civic Center. "If it's for a good cause then yeah, but I never go out my way to vote."
Dena has yet to vote in any election. "I mean, as far as like helping the homeless," he says, "that's probably a good cause. 'Cause that's what I do."
Lloyd Affholter has a different take.
"I think it's baloney," Affholter says. "But it's still important to have a voice and a gauge on the events and issues of the day."
Affholter says he votes in every election. "But I think voting is one of those things," he adds, "like being in the streets, writing letters, signing petitions, are the things that whether they work or not doesn't matter, but at least for me, it helps me understand that I'm trying to do something to make everything better."
Eugene Kirkwood was more optimistic.
"What I feel about voting is it's an opportunity for me to make a difference," says Kirkwood, "and to view my voice and for people to hear my voice because it's important for an African American male, that happens to be gay, to be in the decision-making process of how the city, how the state's gonna be ran."
Finally, for John Samples, who usually votes, the process is going to look a little different this year.
"Being a recent arrival here in San Francisco, I was quite surprised how much information the city sent me," Samples says. "I'm planning to sit down with my Muse AI and work through it and decide what to vote. I'm certainly gonna vote, that's for sure."
