Young voter turnout at valley polls

Voters took to polling places across the Coachella Valley Tuesday for the California Primary Election. We visited locations from Coachella to Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage and Palm Springs.

This election, voters and precinct inspectors said younger voters made their appearance to make their voices heard.

“The turnout’s been busy all day long, it’s really good to see,” said Donald Kagen, precinct inspector at the Coachella Senior Center.

Some people such as 22-year-old Yesenia Becerra voted for the first time.

“I came to vote. It’s important I think we all have a voice and we should probably use it and people probably don’t realize the single vote makes a huge difference,” said Becerra.

The young voter turnout was impressive and encouraging. In April, the Bernie Sanders Block Party in downtown Coachella reached out to the east valley community and tried to rally young people to get out and vote in the primary election, but did it work?

“I felt that brought a lot of awareness to younger people, which don’t really vote. I felt that encouraged people to get involved politically,” Becerra said.

With a strong voter turnout for a primary election, the polls didn’t go off without a hitch, according to Kagen.

“It’s definitely one of the most confusing elections we’ve had. More and more people are registering as no party selection,” he said.