Some voters still undecided as November election approaches

Undecided voters speak

With just 61 days to the November election, the country seems more divided than ever. But some have yet to decide who they'll vote for.

WASHINGTON - With just 61 days to the November election, the country seems more divided than ever.

Some say the 2020 presidential election will be the most consequential election of our time-- with a global pandemic, race relations and a suffering economy.

But even with all that there are still many who are not sure who they'll be voting for.

And it will be that group in the middle, those undecided voters, who are ultimately going to decide the election. Fox5's Shirin Rajaee sat down with a group of undecided voters from Virginia, Maryland and Portland Oregon to talk issues that matter most.

"I'm still undecided because as a women, minority, small business owner, I'm looking for a candidate that can find adequate relief for small businesses like mine that were disproportionately impacted by the crisis... and a candidate that can put safe systems in place for travel domestically and internationally," said Marielle Kabin, Vice President of Travelwise International based in Maryland.

"I need to hear a sound economic plan. 70% of travel advisors will be out of business in the next 6 months if relief is not given to these businesses," said Kabin.

Undecided voters talk about issues ahead of November election

The November election is approaching - but some voters still have not made up their minds.

Small businesses like Kabin's travel agency and so many others forced to shut down for months due to covid19 have been hit hard, and now it's a matter of survival.

Virginia undecided voter Joseph Cauterucci is a husband and father of three, and owns a small healthcare business, where he provides at home coronavirus testing for the most vulnerable.
Cauterucci comes from a republican household, but he says he voted Democrat recently.

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"At that time I was younger, had a different outlook on what was important to me... I haven't myself heard a sound plan for what's coming for Covid, what is the plan for the foreseeable future, not just social distancing, but getting the economy back on track. I haven't heard that from Joe Biden or President Trump," he said.

When it comes to coronavirus some panelists say they don't know what to believe, and the false information on social media isn't helping.

"There's so much conflicting information. I feel there's this culture of fear that's propagating from both sides they use. It's hard to know the real facts about covid19, the stats, who gets it. Is the incubation period 2 weeks or one month and how can we keep our families safe," said Virginia Undecided Voter Hersh Sandhoo, Founder of Webmation and BecomingLegendary.com

Undecided voter Chris Bennett, a father of two from Portland Oregon also joined the Fox5 panel. He spoke about the unrest in the streets of portland. Demonstrations in the name of criminal justice reform and an end to systemic racism have turned violent and even deadly in recent days as black lives matter protesters clash with police and trump supporters.

"Portland is a beautiful city, and I haven't felt safe taking my family down there for a while," said Bennett.

We asked Bennett if the current unrest is factoring into the reason he's still not sure who he's voting for come November.

"I think people are looking for people to be fair, but also strict, protesting is one thing, but destroying property is something else....So whomever would win my vote would need to make me feel safe that they would be able to handle situations like that, better than they have been," said Bennett.

While Portland is not a swing state and will comfortably go to Joe Biden, how these protests and violence are dealt with will be critical to voters.

But the panelists say coronavirus and it's impact is still top of mind especially fpr undecided voters in the purple state of Virginia.
"I'd like to see some partisan work, they should have had a second stimulus by now, but they're arguing about it. and it's been weeks," said Sandhoo.

For Sandhoo who was leaning towards re-electing President Trump, a Kamala Harris choice for running mate is making him think twice about Joe Biden.

"It's definitely moved it a little bit in his favor, before that, zero chance... Now i'm taking a closer look because she's a strong candidate for vice president and for president," said Sandhoo.