Tomorrow on the 45th Election Day, many students will have their first opportunity to vote for either Donald Trump or Hilary Clinton, one of which will be the next president.

“Your vote does matter,” Government Teacher Mary Waldrop said. “It’s going to be closer in the state of Texas than what people think.”

Texas has been a republican state since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980.

“It (Democrats vote) really matters especially because the news stations are saying that Texas could be a battle ground state,” senior Kacie Pimentel said.

Pimentel voted early on Oct. 25.

“Voting makes me feel like my opinion matters,” she said. “People should vote so that way they know that their voice is heard.”

Teacher Cindy Malone said that it is very important to stay up to date with the election.

“I want people to become thinkers and it’s important not just to do exactly what your parents are doing or what your grandparents are doing but to actually listen and read and watch things for yourself,” she said. “Make your own decisions.”

Waldrop said she is encouraging her students to vote.

“This will be the last presidential election that I will be a teacher (during) because I will be retired by the next one,” she said. “This (election) defies in a lot of ways what’s typically been a pattern in the past, so this one is very unusual.”

Malone said that electing a president is a given right to citizens.

“It’s important because voting is one of the founding things that make America,” she said. “Our democracy is different from many other countries and it’s important to exercise that right.”