Midterm elections are fast approaching
The importance of voting as a college student
As midterm elections abroach this November, everyone must make a choice. Even if you wave your right to choose between candidates, by not voting, you are still making a choice. According to an article by Tufts University, in the last midterm election, only 18% of 18-19-year-olds and 24% of 20-29-year-olds cast a ballot. This is not nearly enough.
How can such a small percentage possibly accurately represent the will of the youth in our country? We play a vital role as the next generation, the inheritors of democracy and of the United States. In such a troubling time, there is so much at stake. Our voices are the most important in deciding what happens to our futures. In order for all of our voices to be heard, every Willamette student must vote in the midterm elections this November.
Midterm elections are extremely important to the process of democracy in the United States. Step back in time to your high school government class. You might remember that every two years, one-third of the United States Senate and the entire House of Representatives are up for election. Every four years, in the off years of our presidential elections, midterms take place nationwide on the first Tuesday of November, this year on Nov. 3. This represents an enormous opportunity for our voices to be heard, and the potential to fundamentally shift the powers that be.
Congressional elections are not the only elections that are held during midterms: most state and local elections also take place. Some of these elected officials are city council members, state representatives who serve within our state legislatures and state governors. These representatives impact each of us even more directly than U.S. congressional representatives because they represent community interests.
As college students, it is tempting to feel that we have little stake in our country. Many of us, especially in our first couple of years at Willamette, live on campus, eat at Goudy every day and have little real knowledge of the significance of grocery or gas prices. We live in a bubble made of worry about passing our next quiz and what we are going to wear the next day.
But the reasons that many college students do not vote are also so much more complicated than that; there are very real barriers for young people to vote. For many students going to school outside their home state, rules on how to change their voting information are confusing. Some young people do not have driver’s licenses and are affected by strict voter ID laws. Time is a real constraint—college is like a full-time job, and that doesn't even take into account actual jobs and extracurriculars.
We all have a duty to our entire community to vote. Democracy can only work the way it is supposed to if we take the initiative to use our power. Our country cannot know what we want if we do not tell it.
As the midterm election approaches, I implore you, take the time out of your day to vote. Midterms are an opportunity to remind our representatives who they serve: us. The decision will be made whether you are a part of it or not.
Will you let others make choices about your future for you?
For more information about voting and elections, visit https://www.usa.gov/voting-and-elections
For more information about how to register to vote or change your voter registration, visit https://www.usa.gov/change-voter-registration
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