American Voter: Alexandra Nichole Salazar Vasquez

US President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden are battling for the presidency in a sharply divided United States. Trump has been focusing on “law and order” while Biden has been trying to strike a conciliatory note. The Black Lives Matter movement – and whether Trump will release his taxes – are among the many issues Americans will consider when choosing their president. As the hotly contested election approaches, Al Jazeera has been speaking to voters across the US asking nine questions to understand who they are supporting and why. Alexandra Nichole Salazar Vasquez Age: 27 Occupation: PhD Student and Podcaster  Residence: Voting in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, but living in Texas  Voted in 2016 for: Hillary Clinton  Will Vote in 2020 for: Joe Biden  Top Election Issue: Racial Justice  Will you vote? Why or why not? “As soon as I get my absentee ballot, I will be mailing it out.” “I’ve been reading a lot of books and articles on race and colonisation, so my views have shifted. In an ideal world, the goal is to get rid of these structures. I think [singer] Selena Gomez had on a shirt that said ‘vote or die’ and I felt very uncomfortable by it, and I thought ‘Why am I uncomfortable with this shirt?’ It’s because not everyone has access to voting. If not, what can we learn from the Black Lives Matter movement or the Black Liberation movement? If Black people aren’t free, then nobody is free. Liberation for Black people is liberation for all. “If you apply that logic to voting, it is not a liberating act for everybody. There are people who are undocumented who don’t have access to voting. There are people who have a criminal record and don’t have access to voting, you know. There are so many who don’t have the choice to vote. So in a lot of ways, voting is a privilege. “Of course, if you look at the history, women were not allowed to vote, people of colour were not allowed to vote, Black people were not allowed to vote, and so on the flip side, you feel this sort of, not guilt, but this will to vote, just because you know the fight that it took. But then the fight was not for everybody, so that is upsetting. “I think voting is anxiety-inducing for me, because I think about the history and all the power structures at play. I just have to bring myself back to the real world and think about what is going to have a real-life impact, and that would be to vote. So that’s why it’s important — because I understand it’s not just about me, it’s about justice for everyone. However, again, it’s not really justice for everyone. In an ideal world, I would burn [the power structures] all down.” style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">