BUFORD, Ga. — When you look past the campaigning, the polls and the promises - it's the people who are at the heart of every election.
Georgia voters will have a big decision to make in November and despite what some national polls might suggest, no two voters are alike.
Meet Ardra Sinett, chef and entertainer
Ardra Sinett is a chef and entertainer. She has been running her own business, Cooking Couture, for more than a decade.
She shares recipes, cooks and takes others along for the journey to create a culinary experience. The goal is to bring people together - one meal at a time.
"It's so hard for people to be controversial or adversarial when they're eating and they're hungry," she joked as she worked in her kitchen.
Issues she cares about
Sinett doesn't necessarily lean right or left when it comes to the politics.
"I am officially an independent according to every test," she explained. "I'm not a monolith. Women aren't a monolith. African Americans, Black Americans are not a monolith so I am an independent thinker."
Rights for those with developmental disabilities
"I have a beautiful grandbaby that's on the autism spectrum," Sinett explained. "She needs education."
She expressed how she's learning how to care for grandchild, the sensory needs and what overstimulation can look like.
"I'm learning (a) new language," she said. "I need somebody that cares about that."
Her granddaughter is still developing. Though she's currently nonverbal, Sinett has hope that she will speak. Even if she doesn't, Sinett wants to make sure her granddaughter still has a fair shot at surviving in today's society.
Healthcare rights
Sinett worries for her grandchild, too.
"I need my grandbaby to have more rights than I had, not less," she said.
Concerned for those who may take advantage of a nonverbal person, Sinett hopes she and her family are never put in a helpless position.
"If she's ever violated, if something happens to her, I want her to have the right. I want her mom and me to make decisions about her healthcare and not my government," she said. "I want to be able to decide where she goes to school and how she lives and her quality of life."
Sinett's take on this 2024 election season:
Her biggest worry: "That we vote as individuals and not as a collective in our thoughts," she said. "When I think about why I vote, it's for everybody. It's not just for me."
According to Sinett, she'll be weighing many issues when she goes to the polls in November.
"The things that are important to me, I want them to be discussed," she said. "Everybody else gets to talk about everything that's important to them. Can we discuss DEI? Can we discuss affirmative action? Can we discuss reparations? Can we discuss it?"
"Can we discuss the federal legalization of THC?" she added, laughing. "Let's lighten this up! I've got a lot of things I'm concerned about. You know what I'm saying? Seriously though. Can we come together?"
When asked about what she's optimistic about, Sinett takes the same approach.
"The good in people," she said. "That we really love each other and we really know that we're the same."
Watch our Voice of the Voter segment during The Georgia Vote Sundays at 11 a.m. on WXIA.