Maybe when you were younger, your parents were always telling you it is important to vote once you are 18. I remember my grandfather always telling me how important it is to vote and be involved with politics. At the time, I just rolled my eyes and ignored it. I always thought it didn’t matter or my vote didn’t matter, but that isn’t the case.
Once I got into college and educated myself more, I realized voting is very important. Especially for millennials and young people.
Millennials make up half of the voting population now. We are powerful and we are many. We can make a change. These decisions that politicians are making will effect us for the rest of our lives. Sure, Baby Boomers are still voting, but will these decisions effect them for another 30-40 years? Probably not. They will most likely be gone by then. But, we still have many years ahead of us to live.
USA Today posted an article about how many people in different age groups voted in 2016. Only 19% of voters age 18-29 voted in the presidential election that year. We can do better than that. 49% of people ages 45-69 voted in the same election. The older generation is going to control our future; now who wants that?
These older voters will most likely vote for people who support what helps them, not the younger generation. This is why we need to pay attention, research, and vote on election day.
Some people think that their vote won’t matter. This is false. Many elections have been won by very small margins, such as Senator Al Franken winning by just 312 votes in 2009. In 2008, an Alaskan congressional race was decided by one vote out of 10,035 votes. One single vote can matter in any election.
Many people I talk to will complain about one thing a politician is doing that they don’t approve of. I ask them if they vote in the elections and they usually say “no”. This is a huge problem. If you want to change things, you need to vote. You need to vote for people who support what you want. Your vote matters, even if it’s only one vote. It can still change everything.
Don’t forget to vote on November 6th. It’s important, especially for the young people of America.