In the past four months, former President Donald Trump has been indicted in four criminal cases, leaving voters in a precarious situation ahead of the 2024 presidential election, according to Suffolk University professors.
Trump was indicted for 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in April. In New York Supreme Court documents posted by CNN, Trump repeatedly manufactured New York business records to conceal his criminal conduct to prevent information from reaching the voting public during the 2016 presidential election.
As reported by NBC in June, a federal grand jury in Miami indicted the former president for withholding classified national defense documents, which he reportedly kept in his Mar-a-Lago estate for over eight months. This resulted in an indictment of 32 counts of willful retention of national defense information, among others.
According to the DC District Court, Trump and co-conspirators allegedly attempted to use the violence of the Jan. 6 insurrection to delay President Joe Biden’s presidential victory. His fourth indictment involves alleged attempted tampering of Georgia votes to overturn his electoral defeat.
Amid Trump’s growing list of indictments and the impending 2024 election, Gen Z voters find themselves in limbo, according to Suffolk University political science professor Christina Kulich.
“All of these developments are simply going to drive lack of identification and overall lack of trust in the institutions … which is bad for democracy,” said Kulich.
A Pew Research Center survey, published Sept. 19, found a growing rate of voters who are underwhelmed by the choice of candidates, underrepresented by both parties, or who openly dislike both parties.
While the answer to adequate representation is complicated, Kulich encouraged students to get involved at a primary level.
“Unless we engage in a good faith effort at civic involvement, nothing’s going to get better,” she said.
Suffolk professor Kenneth Cosgrove vitalized the importance of making informed decisions when it comes to choosing a candidate, incentivizing students to take advantage of free news subscriptions provided by the Suffolk library.
“Get onto the Suffolk library site and get subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times and read them every day and you will be well informed on the political situation … Journalism, not entertainment, I think that matters a lot,” said Cosgrove.
While polls continuously show the former president dominating the Republican polls, and President Joe Biden’s approval rating dipped under 50%, Cosgrove said nothing is set in stone.
“It isn’t clear who is going to win the primaries … get out and vote,” said Cosgrove.
