Right To Vote

Since 1972, youth voter turnout has been on the decline. According to the Child Trends Databank, 50 percent of Americans aged 18 to 24 participated in the 1972 presidential election (2015). Nearly three decades later, the percentage of young adults aged 18 to 24 who voted in the 2000 presidential election had dropped eighteen

The reason why young people don't vote is so obvious that it can be found in the U.S. Constitution. The Founding Fathers, progressive and tolerant though they were, saw fit to cite age as the only limitation to holding a federal elected office. In a document that rightly stands as a model for modern liberal democracy, neither race nor gender nor religion nor creed were mentioned as being relevant to the qualifications of a representative. This only serves to emphasize the degree to which age discrimination is rooted in the American political system. From the beginning, those under 25 (the minimum age for a member of the House of Representatives) have been treated as less-than-equal citizens, so it is no surprise or coincidence that men

What would you think if I told you that being young in America is not the easiest thing in the world to be? The young adults in America go from having to ask permission to go to the bathroom and living with no responsibilities; to having to move out and begin an independent life filled with work, college, and hard choices that will determine the rest of their adult life. This brisk change happens in less than a year. That might be one of the major reasons that the American youth does not give that much value to the American Political Process, and do not fully understand the changes that they can provide just by simply voting. It is critical that the American Youth votes because those votes imply making decisions that can affect their future and they should be deciding their own future.

America has been built on the idea that as citizens, we have the choice to decide what is the best for our country. Millions of Americans cast their vote every election day to make sure their voices are heard on who is going to run their country and what new policies they will bring with them. As stated in Anny Shin’s article, “Takoma Park 16-year-old savors his history-making moment at the polls,” voting is a, “valuable privilege,” in which many don’t realize. In the United States, not every is allowed to vote, only 18-year old citizens are allowed to vote. However the number of 18-year olds voting is very low and this has been an issue in the political for quite a while. The concerns and desires of most millennials are not being expressed as many are not voting. Many, like the city of Takoma have proposed to allow 16 and 17-year olds to vote as they believe that voting among millennials will increase.

It seems as though the younger population of voters have all grown up in a world where they have been influenced to believe that their one vote will not make a difference, and therefore they do not bother to take the time out of their busy schedules to cast their meaningless vote. In the last presidential election, only one out of four citizens between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four casted their vote (“Is the System broken?”). The opinion that one vote will not make a difference appears to be directly respondent to the younger generation of voters. This generation needs to be educated on the difference that one vote can make.

In the Brexit vote, 74% of all people under 24 voted to remain in the EU and people over 50 voted to leave the EU. This was a record turnout for this age group and shows this age group wants to have a say in the future of this country. This is because they are the new generation and the ones who are to live the future and they want the best environment for them to live in. However, with many 18-24 years old in further education, it is hard for them to vote as they do not live in their local area. This means that many votes cannot be used and so a whole section of the UK

Why vote? This is a major question among many young Americans today. America's youth, does not take the time to read articles, observe the news, or pay attention to presidential debates and campaigns due to their busy schedules. This creates two problems. First, young voters have little knowledge of current issues in the election. Also as a result, they are unaware of the importance of voting. Each presidential election stirs up an old controversy of whether to vote or not to vote. There are many young people who think that voting is not important; I believe that it is. By voting you are exercising your right as an American to voice your opinion, and young Americans need to become aware of this.

In 2012, 62% of the youngest voters showed disintrest in the political process. So what does this mean, give up on the young. Not an option, we need to get younger people more involved. They need more edjacation on how not voiting will affect them later in their life. They need to know

this low voting rate was attributed to a general lack of feeling of responsibility. As young adults age, marry, and become parents, their sense of community and responsibility increases, while their apathy toward voting decreases, (Abramson 116). Another reason for low voter turnout numbers for 18 to 24-year-olds is their generally low levels of party loyalties. Not having strong party ties decreases one's incentive to vote.

I think the reason why the voter turnout rate is so low is because of the lack of participation in young people thinking that there votes don’t matter and the lack of interest in politics. Other reasons are the lack of courage, positivity, motivation towards the candidates. Even with all the technology around us making it easier then ever to voter young people still lack political interest in voting big time. It could also be that those who do not vote come from families that don’t discuss politics in general. Young people don’t really see the bigger picture and just think in the now and not the later future. A way I think we can improve upon this lack of participation is by somehow showing them how voting can directly affect their lives and

American youth, the demographic most important to America’s future, are often excluded from political processes and omitted from election ballots in just about every way. It is my mission as a Junior Statesman and a high school student to break this substandard negative trend, which tarnishes American democracy, by encouraging youth to become more politically active.

Young adults in current times have grown up with many rights that have not always been considered a right but instead a privilege. Voting is one of these rights that was once only considered a privilege, eligible for a particular gender and ethnicity. For many years this meant that the only group of people allowed to vote were white males. Today, things are different and everyone has the choice to vote after they reach the age of eighteen. The right to vote is a powerful right that we must take advantage of because not every country is lucky enough to have a say in their government. Today, in America we have the opportunity to decide if we would like to vote or not. Many Americans take pride in this right as it is considered a civic duty that has not always been eligible to everyone.

The main point according Martin P. Wattenberg in Is Voting For Young People is that young people today do not vote during elections as much compared to other voting groups. Young people today are politically unengaged. “These state patterns of voting participation can be confirmed on the national level by the Census Bureau’s 2010 survey data. Among U.S. citizens under the age of 30 in 2010, only 24 percent reported that they voted.” (Page-188, IVYP) The low attendance of young people voting in Presidential elections indicates that young people do not care enough about politics to participate.

Old people are the most reliable voters for this country. They have the highest percentage of voters of any age group because they know candidates will focus on Social Security and Medicare. However, young people do not like to vote they think it is a waste of time. They are focused on college, social life, and cars, etc. If a lot of young people show up and vote, the politicians will get the message that young people have a voice just as much as the old people.

1. Only 21 percent of the voting eligible population in 2014 were young adults ages 18-29 (“why student voters matter”, 2016).