This election season, I’ve been looking at voting and voter habits in a new way. Since August, I’ve been a congressional campaign intern and have gained tons of insight into the vastly differing mindsets of voters across all genders and all ages. Even without this outlook, I feel like as a young person watching the rise of young voters, I’ve noticed some new patterns and some recurring ones.
At the heart of my feelings about voting is my frustration. I cannot believe that there are so many apathetic people who really just do not bother themselves with voting at all, or voting with intention. College students vote in towns they’ve lived in for two months and don’t even take the time to research the lower-level officials or small issues like a tax levy. This careless lack of research and effort can affect the people in smaller towns who really care, and whose lives it affects year-round, not just during the school year. I’ve spoken to voters who feel this is unfair, and I cannot say I disagree with them despite voting in my college town myself. I wish there was more of an intrinsic desire to really take part in our country’s democracy, even though it is an extremely flawed system. There are ways to be aware of systemic problems without pretending you’re better than everyone else and taking yourself out of the voting cycle.
“Not voting” is not acceptable anymore. Human rights are on the line, climate change is on the line, the health of our poorest citizens is on the line. And that’s just a few of the more pressing issues that have ticking time bombs on them in all of the governmental elections this November. Being able to say that you aren’t voting because you don’t like either of the candidates or that America’s political system is too flawed to participate in is privilege. All you’re saying is that you can make choices to opt-in or opt-out because at the end of the day, nothing will really affect your everyday lifestyle. This isn’t the case for marginalized groups. For them, one vote from a more privileged citizen could change everything. It makes me really sad to watch my fellow classmates openly say they won’t vote and that they pretend this is some kind of intellectual superiority.
Along the lines of not voting, writing in freaking Kanye West is just as much of a middle finger to marginalized peoples and the planet. I don’t know if anything makes my blood boil more than reading Kanye West’s incessant tweets about being a write-in candidate, and I cannot believe that people are actually going to do it. Our political system should not be a board game for celebrities to roll the dice on whenever they please, and voters should not be so impressionable as to blindly follow them into the dark.
At the end of the day, you should have fundamental reasons why you’re voting for who you vote for. Uninformed and uninterested voters need a wake-up call. It’s disheartening and hard to watch, and I don’t have a solution besides ranting about the problem to the few Her Campus readers who may come across this article. I think if everyone paid a little bit more attention, developed some more empathy, and found their passion for a specific issue or candidate, our government and political climate would be a lot better off. I’m hoping that the hoards of young people who do care and who are going to the polls will be enough to make this election a legendary one. Hope is the strongest emotion I have right now and it is tough to be hanging on to that by a thread. November 3rd can’t come soon enough, because I just want to see what is going to happen next. All I know is that politics in the US are forever changed because of the past few years.
