Voting is important. Why? Let’s discuss it, and take a look at a world where you don’t vote. What does that look like?
You’re sitting, all by yourself, in a park somewhere. An older gentleman walks up to you. “Would you prefer sunshine or rain?” he says. “I don’t care,” you say, apathy bleeding into your voice and slapping him in his well-worn face. “Well, okay then.” He walks away.
In a few moments, your world turns grey, and water cascades down from the sky. “Well, I didn’t want it to rain.” You’re heartbroken, crestfallen, and dejected. Your day is ruined. Why didn’t you tell the man what you really wanted?
Within the United States of America, we all hold the same basic rights, and the right to vote is perhaps the most important one of them all. Men bled, bearing red badges of courage upon their jackets, pictures of their wives in their hands, and die for the right you possess, and all some people can say is: “Well, it doesn’t matter to me anyway. But it does.
Are you really just a hateful member of the youth who doesn’t vote because you hate your country? I hope not.
Let’s find out why, and talk about the reasons people like you don’t vote. Not all of them are your fault, despite what talking heads and your disgruntled elders would have you believe.
Are you part of the majority?
According to Alligator.org, only 42% percent of young people cast their ballot during the 2024 election. That’s an 11% drop from the 53% that voted in the 2020 election. Obviously, this trend is quite concerning, so what is contributing to this decline?
A notable fact of life is that people aren’t born knowing everything. You’re not born imbued with the knowledge of how to vote, and many young people don’t know how to register to vote, or don’t have adequate identification to do so.
Sarita Popat of the Harvard Review says that “12 states have deemed student IDs invalid forms of identification for voting”. With colleges across America being among the firmest bastions of political engagement, it’s clear that this poses a large issue for students who wish to vote.
Many other students and people just scraping by aren’t able to allocate the time or effort to vote due to other obligations. A survey by Tisch College found that of young people who didn’t register to vote, 29% percent said they often struggled to meet their own basic needs. They didn’t register because their lives, jobs, and the constant struggle for survival didn’t provide a respite long enough for them to vote.
Voting may be a civic obligation, but some people simply cannot spare the time to deal with a convoluted system that is difficult to navigate.
The counterargument to the popular belief
“Young people don’t vote because they don’t care. They want to see the world burn, and are too sucked up on TikTok and Instagram to see the world in front of them.”
You’ve heard some flavor of this, perhaps a family member over a Thanksgiving turkey, or an anchor on Fox News, or even just someone on the street. It’s easy to assume that young people don’t care about the fate of their country if you’re blind, deaf, and oblivious to the world around you.
Young people, especially Gen Z, are among the first people to truly tap into the depths of the world of information that we live in today. If you’re reading this, I’d hazard a guess you’ve spent some time on TikTok today. YouTube? Instagram? Even Facebook? The point is, Gen Z shares their views on social media platforms, and those views have a further reach than any single ad or campaign button could ever have.
An excellent example of the power of pop culture has toward driving political opinion, and whether or not you believe someone basing their vote off of Taylor Swift’s endorsement is valid, social media was the factor that got them excited about voting.
What factors lead to gen z voting less?
First of all, is it true that Gen Z votes less than the overall population? According to the United States Census (and they’re probably telling the truth), the overall population voted around 63-67% of people voted, with the variance simply being between genders with men voting slightly less than men.
Based on the Stats section, we know around 42% of Gen Z voted. What?! Does Gen Z hate the government? Is apathy abounding in the corridors of our schools and across our wide nation? Calm down.
Habits are built over time, and voting, while it is a responsibility, is also a habit. Gen Z, and any people who are newly able to vote are always fully acclimated to the voting climate, and this leads to lower representation. Partisanship also doesn’t fully set in until later ages. Without strong affiliation to one side or another, people often elect not to vote.
Apathy and distrust are two different things. Due to the nature of government, many officials simply do not follow through on their promises, and don’t seem to care about actually doing the things they ran on.
According to Gallup, 50% of Gen Z have little to no trust in Congress. 50%! That is an absurd number. Why would Gen Z vote when they don’t believe it would change anything? Some people have this mindset, but others don’t let it hold them back. However, there are even more barriers to entry or information that Gen Z has to face.
An information nation, and an inability to tap into it
You’ve interacted with the average man or woman older than 50 before.
“Can you fix my Facebook?” “My phone isn’t working.”
“Turn it on and back off again.” You’ve said it before, I can almost say it with abject and utter confidence. I know I have.
It’s a stereotype, perhaps a harmful one, but the fact is that there is a disconnect between those who govern our country and those who will soon become the primary political force in this country. This has led to traditional media and campaign strategies being ineffective at drawing youth voters.
In fact, leading up to the 2024 election, only 19% of youth voters reported being contacted by a campaign. It’s hard to vote when you’re uninformed, and it’s hard to be informed if ads only appear on TV or are posted on non-social media platforms.
Gen Z runs on the information society that dictates where they get all of their information, and it has failed to educate them about upcoming elections.
This is why the Harris-Walz campaign appeared to have so much momentum in the 2024 election. Although their bid was short-lived and unsuccessful, their strategists attempted to lean heavily into the social media angle, with Harris appearing in TikTok dances and other social media trends.
So…how do I vote anyway?
Just look it up. It’s not that hard, and I believe in you.
Now you can do your civic duty and start chipping away at that deficit between Gen Z and voters of all other ages. Voting is important. It’s one of the only rights you have that directly dictates the future of the country. Your future is in your hands (mine too I guess), so take good care of it. Please vote. Vote in the midterms, vote in local elections, vote in national races, vote, vote, vote. There’s nothing you can do that affects your country more.
Who to pick?
Now you can vote, know why people your age don’t vote, but who should you choose. Here’s a brief three-point system to identify a good candidate.
Track record
Who is this person? Should I trust them? Do they have a prior record of not making good on campaign promises? Why are they insisting that they’ll perform the acts they are running on?
You should be sure that your candidate will do what they say they will, otherwise you’re basically tossing your vote in the garbage.
It’s all about that money Lebowski!
So, where is the money coming from? Who is providing their most significant sources of funding? Will that influence what actions they can take once they’re elected? American politics run directly from seedy donors who veil their interests in campaign support and lobbying, and paying attention to who is funding the campaign of any given candidate can help avoid an incorrect choice.
Politics that align with you
This may seem self-evident, but blind loyalty to a political party can evidently stab you in the back. For example far right voters whom may rely on medical benefits could be voting in people who wish to slash their benefits. Its important to ignore long time loyalty to a political side and family influences and look at what they are providing, or not and vote for you!
A candidate who supports you is the most critical factor in making your choice asking yourself how this candidate is going to affect your life. Take on this information, consider all aspects and don’t waste your vote, because you will have to live through the decision.
So get on out there and vote!
