Following the recent election, political activism in Athens, Georgia has not slowed, according to an informal poll conducted by JOUR 3190.

All of the dozen interview respondents said they were at least as politically active now as before the election—and in some cases more politically aware.

When asked if they voted in the presidential election in November, three of the 12 interviewed said they did not.

Amelia Grace Wolfe, a 19-year-old UGA student said she was out of the country during the election, but also “didn’t want to be ignorant” while voting.

Another Athens resident, Ike Astuti from Indonesia, said she was not a citizen so she could not vote.

Although Astuti did not vote, she expressed a unique opinion when asked how she felt about the demonstrations against the Trump administration and said though the policies protested did not directly affect her, it was very common to see disagreement among citizens and the government.

She said that both, the citizens and the government, have to come from a place of understanding in order for progress to be made.

According to the poll conducted, only three of the 12 interviewed said they became more politically active after the election.

Riley King, a 25-year-old Athens resident, was concerned about the impact of the protests.

King said, “Demonstrations are great, but they lose their purpose if they don’t cause any actual change,” but continued to say that he still believes protests should happen.

“It’s important to challenge what you oppose…one person has very little power. A lot of people have a lot,” said Keaton Law, a political science and history major at the University of Georgia.

Law said he participated in the late January and early February Atlanta Women’s March, Atlanta airport protests and the Immigrants March in Athens.

Tyra Roberts, a 19-year-old finance student at UGA did not participate in any demonstrations but said, “Prior to this election, I feel like a lot of people weren’t really engaged in politics.”

“I think we’re realizing if we don’t use our voice and actually speak out, this is what can happen,” said Roberts. referring to the election of Donald Trump.

Eight of the 12 polled said they became more politically aware after the election, and those who said they did not were either already politically aware before or their amount of interest did not increase.

Robert Poole, a 25-year-old law student at UGA, said that his awareness did not change after the election since law students are generally more aware.

When asked what Poole thought of the demonstrations around Athens and the rest of the country, he said, “I think it is kind of our political system at work, especially because even though it kind of seems messy, it is a good sign that citizens still have the ability to speak either for or against the election and not have to fear prosecution for that.”

Eloise Rodgers Hancock, a 68-year-old resident of Athens, had a more cautionary view on the growing protests and thought the demonstrations needed to stay “cool, calm and collected.”