Some High School Seniors Prepare to Vote for First Time
It’s not just for old people – high school seniors can vote, too
October 12, 2016
With the 2016 presidential election almost here, the Oregon deadline for voter registration is coming up on October 18th, and some La Salle seniors are preparing to vote for the first time.
As most students know, voting is how the American government continues functioning as a democracy run by its citizens. “It’s important for people to vote because it is one of the easiest ways to be active in the government,” says senior Andres Giesemann, who is planning to vote.
Without voting, the people of our country would have no voice in the government. However, even with the obvious importance of voting, there has been evidence in recent years that the younger population of the United States has not been doing a very good job of turning up at the polls.
In 2014, 21% of the eligible voting population in the United States was between the ages of 18 and 29. However, only 19.9% of that group voted. That’s more than 36 million people in this group who didn’t vote, and it’s been recorded as the lowest amount of youth voters in any federal election.
An anonymous poll of 59 seniors at La Salle revealed that 83% of those seniors are not eligible to vote, most citing their age as the reason why they aren’t eligible. Of the small group that can vote — 10 students — only one person is choosing not to vote.
Still, the results of many elections have shown that even small amounts of voters can make a big difference. If not for young adults voting in the 2008 presidential elections, four states would have voted Republican rather than Democrat.
“I think that if you have the opportunity, and you’re of age, and you know how to fill out a card through the mail, you need to (vote),” said senior Stella Tompkins.
One senior that is not eligible to vote, Zoe Wilber, stated that if people choose not to vote, they shouldn’t be able to complain about the way their government works. “Why would we complain when we ourselves do have the political influence as the people to vote who we want to be in office? I think that’s really ridiculous,” Wilber said.
In order to encourage voting, some high schools in the United States have started voter registration programs to get seniors involved. If you would like to learn more about voting and the requirements to vote in Oregon, or if you’d like to register to vote, visit the Oregon Secretary of State’s website at sos.oregon.gov.
***
Are you planning on voting? Would you, if you were eligible?
Creative Commons photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stuart_spivack/3012807019/
Olivia Cooper • Oct 24, 2016 at 11:03 am
I agree with senior Stella Tompkins that if you are of age, you should vote. Voting is such a privilege and many people will never have the opportunity to take advantage of this privilege.
Grant • Oct 12, 2016 at 5:33 pm
Voting is so important in our society. It’s so sad to see that so few people vote, even for presidential elections. It’s usually under 50% of eligible voters everyone four years, and even less on off years for Congress and local positions. I can’t vote yet, but it’s one of the things I’m most excited for in a couple years.
A good point also made in this article by Zoe Wilber is that people can’t be mad at what’s happening to their nation if they don’t vote. Young adults need to take it upon themselves to fight the injustices and failures of our government that we always complain about by actually taking some time to vote and change the government.