Do you feel like your vote doesn’t really matter? Are you not registered and not planning on voting? There are a ton of excuses for not voting on Nov. 8 but millennials make up one third of eligible voters and if we don’t vote for our interests, no one else will. Here are some of the reasons I am voting in this and every election to come.
1. American is based on democratic ideals – Participation in the democratic process is necessary to keep our country going. Voting is how our elected officials know what we want. If we don’t tell them, they cannot accurately represent us.
2. We, as college students, are a key constituency – With 44 million Millennial voters eligible, all of our votes come together to be a large power in elections. College voters can swing an election.
3. No one else votes with college students in mind. – When issues like student loan rates, education, and young people’s social reforms are on the ballot, we must vote for the issues that will immediately and directly affect us.
4. Many people fought for the right to vote – No matter your race, gender, or age, your right to vote was once a reform that someone fought for.
5. Within the next 4 years we will all be out in the real world with jobs, paying for housing and living under the leadership of the people we elect right now.
6. The next president of the United States will nominate at least one Supreme Court justice (who a serves life term). This decision can influence American policy for an entire lifetime.
7. 88% of Congress is up for reelection. A president is more effective with a congressional majority in the same party as them. They can pass more legislation and see more actual change.