Young voters should use their voice
The California Presidential Primary Election is on Mar. 3. While most high school students are too young to vote in this election, a handful are 18 years old and can vote. According to the United States government, only 12.83 percent of eligible voters ranging from the age of 18 to 25 years old have registered to vote as of Jan. 3, 2020.
As the group of people whose lives depend the most on the fate of the United States, how is this possible? The right to vote is taken for granted, especially by young potential voters, although they will be the most impacted by the decisions of our country’s leadership.
Nobody should forget how hard oppressed groups fought to have their right to vote in the United States. Followed by strenuous civil rights movements lasting for decades, both women and minorities finally achieved their right to vote in the 20th century. However, people still do not utilize their right to vote.
A common reason many young potential voters don’t vote is because they are unsure who to vote for. When it comes to political research, the media is the best and worst place to find a political stance a voter can support. Since it is difficult to find unbiased sources online, especially when it relates to politics, the best way to investigate what resonates with a voter is by looking at a range of sources to sculpt a viewpoint.
While some potential voters do not feel confident in their stance in politics, others simply do not care enough to vote or take any stance. They think: How can one vote be impactful in a sea of millions of other votes?
Despite the common misconception that your vote on its own does not matter, it really does. The population of citizens that feel this way amounts to an entire group whose views and feedback for the United States will never be heard. Instead, these views will be thrown away, never to be used to improve the state of our nation. By not voting, you are missing out on an amazing opportunity to better your life. Every vote that you do not cast makes another person’s vote count more. Essentially, you are trusting your future in the hands of others.
With only 12 percent of America’s youth voting, the outcome is not an accurate reflection of the wants of the American people. How can we agree upon what the majority of people want for the future when an abundance of the country’s population is not voting?
We urge you to use your voice as a citizen of the United States. As the group who will be alive the longest into the future, one can argue that the votes of young people are the most essential. By voting, we have a chance to push the United States in a positive direction and improve the way we live.
