It’s voting season, it’s happening, and this year, it’s more important than ever that as many young people as possible get out and vote.
Young people make up a huge percentage of voters in America, but historically very few of us have actually participated in our right to choose a leader. According to Pew Research Center, young adults make up more than half of eligible voters. More than half! The problem is that less than half of millennials exercise their right to vote, for a whole variety of reasons.
Young people often don’t vote because they feel that their single vote doesn’t matter that much. Incorrect! Every vote counts towards the decision of who’s going to lead our country for the next for years. Together, we young people can sway the vote! And as the largest, most diverse, forward-thinking group of voters ever, don’t we want to take advantage of our chance to change the future?
Voting may also not appeal to young adults because during college, the leader of our country seems removed from us. It seems as though their policies and opinions don’t affect us directly. Why would we participate in something that doesn’t impact our lives directly? We have more pressing things to attend to like classes and social life.
Voting during college is the chance to influence the world you will be stepping into as a newly independent adult. It will affect your rights to buy a house, how you choose health insurance, pay off loans, and your reproductive rights. It’s important to protect your own interests for your future!
Finally, young people don’t vote because they feel they don’t have the time, or they are not educated enough to make a decision of which candidate to support. Ha. Nowadays it is easier than even to educate yourself on politics. We have access to all sorts of information from every perspective about every aspect of the political world. It is easy to discover what political views and leaders you align yourself with.
Young people love to complain on social media about how screwed our government is. Great! Good for you. But make sure that if you’re going to complain, that you also do something to make a difference, to make what you’re complaining about better!
Start your political career as soon as possible. It takes literally three minutes to register to vote online.
The future is sooner than you think, and voting will impact you more than you think it’s going to. So take advantage of your chance to change your future. Vote!