As the year 2020, four year mark to pick a president comes around, politics are on the minds of many.  For a lot of High School seniors, they’ll be able to vote for the 2020 presidential election. You must register to vote 29 days before election day in the state for Kansas.  You must be 18 on or before the next election to register.    

The importance of voting and being educated on who your voting for is critical.  If you want certain things done in your society or have strong opinions on certain views, you need to make sure the person you’re voting for meets your criteria.  Megan Grieb, a senior at McPherson High School said, “I plan on voting in the 2020 presidential election because it’s something that I want to experience in life.  As of now, I don’t really know who to vote for, so I will have to try and stay updated on the candidates.”

So far this year’s Republican candidates include President Trump and William Weld.  The Democratic candidates include Michael Bennet, Joseph Biden, Cory Booker, Steve Bullock, Pete Buttigieg, Julian Castro, Bill de Blasio, John Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard, Kristen Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Jay Inslee, Amy Klobuchar, Wayne Messam, Seth Moulton, Beto O’Rourke, Tim Ryan, Bernie Sanders, Joe Sestak, Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, Marianne Williamson, and Andrew Yang. Third parties, Independent parties and other minor parties are running for the 2020 presidential election as well.   

The first Democratic primary debate was on June 26th, the second Democratic debate was held July 30th.  The next debate will be the third Democratic primary debate and will be held on September 12-13 in Houston, Texas.  

The candidates will need to meet a higher threshold to participate in the third primary debate.  The qualifications they need to participate is they’ll need 130,000 donors and to register at least 2 percent in four polls.  Their deadline to reach these requirements is Aug. 28th. An estimation of 10 to 12 out of the 24 original democratic candidates will participate in the third primary debate.