As we all know, 2020 is a huge election year. We keep seeing all of the posts, ads and videos that tell us to register to vote, but why is it important?
There is a lot at stake this year. With the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg this week, and the push from Donald Trump to nominate a new Supreme Court justice before the election, this year is a year we cannot miss.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a social justice warrior. She fought for issues well before her nomination into the Supreme Court and tirelessly fought for gender and racial equality. From abortion rights to enviornmental justice, Ginsburg fought to ensure that the right thing was being done.
What does this mean?
Before the death of Ginsburg, there was already a lot at stake. From environmental concerns, Coronavirus policies, and the Black Lives Matter movement, a lot rides on this year’s election. Not only are people expecting justice for immigrants, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and women, but powerful policies must be made to act on climate change as well. If Donald Trump can nominate a Supreme Court justice before the November election, all of these issues are at stake to an even greater extent.
So what does voting have to do with this?
According to a poll done by Hardvard’s Institute of Politics, young Americans are likely to vote in the election and are more apt to disapprove of Trump. Trump’s opposing candidate, Joe Biden, shows a 60% lead amongst people aged 18-29. However, this is also the demographic of people who typically do not show up to the polls. According to BBC, people under the age of 39 make up more than a third of eligible votes, but historically have lower voter turnouts. In one survey, 43% of 18-29 year olds said they were expecting to vote, but only 5-19% actually voted in the election. It is expected that more young people are going to vote this year, after a spike in the 2018 midterm elections and continued social media awareness around this election.
But this does not mean that we can let our guard down. We must continuously work to not only register our friends and family to vote, but we also have to make sure they actually vote this year. Only by actually voting are we going to see change, and the importance of a vote this year is as crucial as ever. We must make sure that voting in this election is not a social media fad, but that young people, the upcoming generations, are involved in the decisions that dictate our future. It is a future for everyone, so we must ensure that the people elected into positions of power truly represent all people, rather than a skewed version of the Constitutional claim, “We the People”. We must vote for people of color. We must vote for immigrants. We must vote for climate change policy. We must register to vote, then we must actually vote.
As RBG said, “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”
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