Senior year of high school is a busy and exciting time in life, but sometimes the milestone events of 12th grade — college applications, prom, soccer games, and birthday parties — make us forget that simultaneously, we are turning eighteen. 

Though in many ways it can feel like we are still young, and therefore sheltered from the real world, the reality is that we are slowly becoming adults, and with adulthood comes responsibility. 

With adulthood comes our eligibility to have a say in how our country is run — our eligibility to vote. 

59.8% of 18-24-year-olds in the United States were registered to vote in 2020. 

40.2% of people our age are giving up their voice and leaving decisions that directly affect them in the hands of other people. For example, the funding our schools receive is one of these issues. Whether it is high school or college, citizens have the opportunity to weigh in on funding in public school systems and how it is distributed. 

In the foreseeable future, we will likely have salaried jobs that require us to pay yearly taxes. Your tax dollars are your own money, and you should have a say in how that money is spent by the government. Whether that be healthcare, social services, public schools, or environmental protection, it is your money that the government uses to fund these. 

The right to vote gives you the liberty to play an active role in how the lives of yourself and others are affected by the government.

Highways, education systems, neighborhood safety, minimum wage, equity, job security — these do not just appear or change because the federal government regulates them, they change because they are voted on by the citizens they affect. When you vote, you are making decisions about your own life and wellbeing. 

A misconception around voting is that there are so many people sending in their ballot that a single vote ceases to matter. In 2000, George W. Bush won the election after a recount in Florida determined he had 537 more votes than Al Gore. In other words, he won by 0.009% of the Florida population. Had 600 more people voted for Al Gore, America’s 2000-2008 presidency could have looked completely different. 

Similarly, in the 2016 election, Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton, Trump secured the presidency through swing state votes like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, despite Clinton winning the national popular vote by 2.9 million. 

Voting enacts the political change needed to reform the institutional and systemic problems caused by outdated laws and policies. By supporting the candidate or ballot measures, you can positively impact your state and community. 

More than anything, voting is our constitutional right. It has not always been this accessible, and people fought incredibly hard to give us this opportunity through the voting rights act, the women who protested for the 19th amendment, and all of the action and debate in between. It’s a privilege to have the power to change how our nation is run and it’s our job to use it to advocate for ourselves and the people around us. 

Our power is in our vote. If we fail to raise our own voices for what we believe in, who will?

Register now. Your vote matters.