With political participation at record levels, there’s still a faction of people who aren’t pleased with the two major-party presidential candidates, driving some away from the polls.

The Arizona Secretary of State recently announced Arizona broke two state records: most people registered in a single day with 41,723 on Oct. 6 and most people registered online in a single month for a primary or general election with 105,392 in September.

Despite the record numbers, some students say they won’t vote in this election.

“My political ideals are liberty, equality and solidarity, which means I have nothing in common with the current political climate,” bioengineering graduate student Gabriel Bodeen said. “No majority, no matter how large, has the right to remove a minority’s liberty.”

Bodeen said the war in Iraq is the most important issue to him. He said he sees it as unjust from start to end, destroying liberty, lives and livelihoods.

His belief system makes him an anarchist, he said, not in the sense of favoring chaos but in the sense of wanting to abolish the exercise of power over people and wanting to secure the dignity of every human.

“Since politics is about favoring one group over another, politics barely tries to harmonize the interests of different groups,” Bodeen said. “Political success comes from dividing us — white versus black, women versus men, straight versus gay, modern versus traditional, Muslim versus Christian, Christian versus secular.”

Marketing junior Duncan Carey also said politics divides people, as opposed to bringing them together. He said he was a supporter of Ron Paul and used to be a registered Libertarian, a political party that espouses less government.

History and economics freshman David Paxman also said he was a supporter of Paul. Paxman, a member of the ASU Club of Libertarians, said he supported Paul because of his strict view of the Constitution.

“I’m for less government because more government can lead to loss of liberties,” Paxman said.

Since 2006, the number of non-Republican, non-Democrat voters has gone up almost 15 percent in Arizona, according to the Secretary of State Web site.

Paxman said he'd vote for Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party, but Carey said he would not vote in this election because he is unhappy with the presidential candidates.

“Neither one has a chance in hell of saying something I agree with,” Carey said. “Even if they say something I believe in, there’s 9,000 other things they say that I don’t believe in.”

Carey said people should be able to make their own decisions on issues like gay marriage or abortion — issues the government shouldn’t intervene in.

“On most social issues, there shouldn’t be a government stance,” Carey said. “The saddest thing is that people are so divisive over an issue like abortion, but it shouldn’t even be a political issue.”

Secondary education junior Dakota Disanto said abortion is one of the main reasons she is going to vote in this election.

She said the next administration would most likely have to choose two new Supreme Court justices. Being a supporter of the court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, Disanto said she thinks Democrat Barack Obama will uphold the decision.

She said she doesn’t like to be pigeonholed into one specific ideology, but the ideology she most relates to is socialism, which espouses more government.

“I’m not incredibly pleased with either of the candidates, but I’m voting for Obama,” Disanto said. “He is optimistic. We need a leader who will go with his promises.”

While Disanto said she is voting for the lesser of two evils, anthropology senior David Natko said he isn’t voting at all. He hasn’t ever voted.

Natko said one of the reasons he doesn’t feel well represented by politicians is their reliance on lobbyists and corporations to get elected.

“I feel both candidates represent the elite in this country. You need a lot of money to run for president and get as far as these candidates have. To acquire that, you need to represent the interests of corporations and those who profit from capitalism,” Natko said. “The only person who can properly represent me is myself.”

Carey said the best way to know you are being properly represented is to research the candidates. People should educate themselves before they go out and vote, he said.

“Do you know every issue your candidate stands for? If you did, you might not vote for him,” Carey said. “If the guy is going to rule us for the next four years, you better know who the guy is. People need to do more than just watch CNN.”

Reach the reporter at philip.haldiman@asu.edu.