Why College Aged People Need to Vote

*This does not reflect the opinions of Her Campus or SMU Her Campus, this is an opinion piece by the author and only reflects the opinions of such author*

Let’s face it, right now is a confusing time. It’s an election year, and we’re in the middle of a pandemic. We are experiencing truly unprecedented times. And yet, it’s more important than ever for young people to vote, possibly for their first time. 

This election has turned out to be one of the most contentious in decades. Trump was the obvious nominee for the Republican party, due to his incumbent status; however, Biden’s eventual position as the Democratic Party’s nominee was not so certain, as the Democratic party had at one point 27 people attempt to gain the nominee this election cycle. With Biden’s positioning of Kamala Harris as his running mate, it has become even more contentious, due to Democrats not approving of her past pro-cop policies in her role as Attorney General, and later Senator, of California.

With the heartbreaking death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on September 18th, this election has become even more aggressive. With only 34 days until the election, President Trump is rushing to appoint Amy Coney Barrett as the new Justice on the Supreme Court, never mind the fact that in the last election cycle, it was left to the winner of the election to fill the empty Supreme Court seat. This appointing of Barrett is set to reverse so much of what Ginsburg spent her life defending; she is a pro-choice politician who wants to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

After the first debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden on September 29th, it is clear that the two could not be further apart, in terms of political stances. Between Biden’s continued discussion of the coronavirus epidemic, Trump’s urgency to appoint Barrett to the Supreme Court, and Trump’s inability to clearly denounce white supremacy, that much is clear. And yet, if you needed the debate on Tuesday night to give you clarity on the positions of these two politicians, you have not been paying attention. In this world of social media and quick, up-to-date news alerts, it’s hard to not have known where these two men fell on political issues.

But now back to my main point: young people have a duty to vote in this election. On average, older citizens are much more likely to vote, due to their experience voting and ability to do so. Younger citizens do so at a lower rate, due to confusion with voter registration, being away at college away from their registration county, and general antipathy towards the election. This needs to change; the younger generation is letting people older than them decide their future, and this cannot continue. In order to change the world into what we want it to be, we must use our voices.

I never thought that the first time I would be eligible to vote I would be mailing an envelope instead of going to a polling place. I’m not going to lie- it was a little bit disappointing. But it was more important than ever that I voted and so I did. And I know that by doing so, I did my part in this year’s contentious election.

• 2020 Presidential Election
• election
• vote
• voting
• young voters