No excuse to avoid election
Thursday, October 30, 2008
On
Nov. 4, if you are an 18-year-old citizen, you will be able to vote.
But imagine Election Day 100 years ago. If you are a woman, you do not
have the right to vote, and if you are black, there exists so many
political barriers that it is impossible to vote. However, in the next
few days, we will either have the first black president or the first
female vice president. This Election Day truly symbolizes how far we
have come as a country.
But, we can still go even further in
creating the changes our country needs. In the next eight years, our
country can work to reduce poverty, lower greenhouse gases and build a
stable economy. And the easiest way to impact our country’s direction
is through voting.
However, in the past few decades, the youth
vote is always the lowest in the nation. The first election when
18-year-olds were granted the right to vote was in 1972. Despite being
granted a right other populations fought and suffered to receive, the
turnout among those 18 to 24 has declined by 16 percentage points
between 1972 and 2000. The voting history of young adults is not all
grime, however. In 2004, we showed up to the polls in record numbers,
increasing the youth vote by 11 percent. However, even with this great
increase, still only 47 percent of the 18 to 24-year-olds voted,
compared to 66 percent of those 25 and older.
So why don’t
young people vote? Many people point to the “cycle of mutual neglect”
of both politicians and young people. Politicians do not target young
people’s concerns when campaigning because young people do not have a
record of voting, and young people do not vote because they think
politicians do not care about their concerns.
Some say
politicians should stop negatively charged campaigns and instead use
their advertisements to explain to young people how their policies will
help the average college student. If politicians would be willing to do
this, it would probably have a very positive outcome on the youth
turnout.
But, when do those in power ever seek to make drastic
changes in policy without public support? To make real change, there
must first be initiative on those who need the change to happen. To
gain the right to vote, women from 1848 to 1920 held conventions and
gave public speeches. Some were even jailed for their protests. Before
blacks could vote without fear, 200,000 people had to march in
Washington, D.C., in 1963 to demand equal rights.
And like our
predecessors, if the young people of this nation want change to happen
and want politicians to take them seriously, then they will have to
work to make that change happen. But, as I said beforehand, the easiest
way for us to have an impact is through voting.
And those of
you unsure about the process or about the issues, there are several
places where you can gain information, including candidate websites and
the student chapters of the College Democrats and College Republicans.
But, if you want a nonpartisan approach, there is www.dividedwefail.org
and student groups on campus, such as Wisconsin Student Pubic Interest
Research Group, who seeks to educate students on the issues without
supporting a specific political party. Students can educate themselves
before they vote by obtaining information on the issues at WISPIRG’s
Get Out the Vote tabling event that will be held Monday at Library Mall
from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
This election is already going to be
historic, but we can make it historic in another way: We can show
politicians we do care and make this the largest youth voter turnout
ever in U.S. history.
Jessica Klinge
Senior, geography, history and history of science
