Jayda Cheaves is opening up about her voting history, admitting she did not participate in the 2024 presidential election while encouraging her followers to take the upcoming midterms seriously.
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The influencer and entrepreneur got candid about her relationship with voting, revealing that she had not cast a ballot since Barack Obama’s presidential era. However, with the 2026 midterm elections approaching, she says her perspective has changed.“To be fair, because I’m not no fake [expletive] [expletive], I have not voted since Barack Obama,” Jayda admitted in a video shared online.
She explained that she made a point to participate in this year’s congressional elections after becoming more informed about political issues affecting everyday Americans.
“I made it my business this year to vote, Congress, just because I know that our vote actually does matter,” she said.
Jayda also acknowledged having doubts about the presidential election process, particularly because of the Electoral College system. While presidential elections involve an additional step in which electoral votes determine the winner, individual ballots help determine which electors represent each state.
Despite her previous uncertainty, Jayda said she now believes participating in elections is important.
A conversation with her grandmother apparently played a major role in that change.
According to Jayda, her grandmother called her several weeks ago and urged her not to take the upcoming election lightly. That conversation pushed her to research the political issues affecting the country and reconsider her previous approach to voting.
“I think voting is important,” she explained. “I think it’s something that we should all partake.”
But one of Jayda’s most revealing admissions came when she reflected on Kamala Harris’s unsuccessful 2024 presidential campaign.
Jayda acknowledged that she had convinced herself Harris had no realistic chance of becoming the country’s first Black woman president, which influenced her decision not to participate.
“And I, I take so much accountability because when Kamala was in office, I literally put in my head like there’s no way they’re letting a black woman be president, so why would I waste my time?” she said.
She then questioned that mindset, wondering whether participating could have made a difference.
“But like what if my vote actually made a difference, you know what I’m saying, so you can’t be like that.”
She also shared her experience reading ballot measures during her latest trip to the polls. According to Jayda, the wording of certain proposed amendments was confusing enough that she spent extra time making sure she understood what she was being asked to approve or reject.
She joked that poll workers were probably wondering why she was taking so long.
“But I had to thoroughly read through like what was what because them big ass words was confusing the [epletive] whole time,” she recalled.
The 2026 midterm elections are scheduled for November 3. Voters will decide all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and regularly scheduled Senate races, along with various state and local contests.
