Young Voters Absence

In the article “Takoma Park 16-year-old Savors his History-Making Moment at the Polls,” written by Annys Shin, the author focuses on whether or not lowering the voting age from 18 is a good idea towards politics, by looking at the benefits and the disadvantages of both sides. In 2013, the city of Takoma Park was the first to lower the voting age to 16 and change the 26th Amendment in their municipal. Ben Miller and other 16- and 17-year-olds were capable of stepping into a booth and casting their vote at the Takoma Park Community Center. Allowing this age group to cast a vote will lead more teenagers to vote than their older peers, it will get them into the habit of voting for the rest of their lives, and it will also increase their personal

In chapter one, Wattenberg discusses the declining trends of Americans who regularly read newspapers between the 1960’s and present day. This can be attributed the aging patterns among generations who frequently read newspapers as well as with the use of technology rising. Reading the newspaper is a habit that either is or is not developed by the time one reaches voting age. With this, newspapers have become an older generation’s primary source of information, however, are still the best source for political matters. Younger generations tend to be more computer literate and have grown up with television and media more accessible to them than the previous generation. These trends not only reflect in American culture, but in other countries

“Voting is the expression of our commitment to ourselves, one another, this country and this world..” Sharon Salzberg, the New York Times best selling author understands how important it is to take advantage of our American right and vote in elections. When one casts a vote he or she is doing his or her job as an American citizen. There has been a growing trend of young people not showing up to the ballots in the few past election seasons. Young people are one of the demographics in the country that has the most potential to make a difference in the voting outcome. There are many reasons as to why young people do not show up to cast their ballots – not feeling part of a community, feeling as if older voters have a larger stake in the establishment, and flat out feeling as if he or she does not have enough information to cast an informed vote. When I was a young boy my father gave an important piece of advice – there is no room for the topics of money earnings, political beliefs, and political affiliations in everyday conversation. Theses topics tend to spark arguments and debates because of the different viewpoints on them. I have tried to avoid these conversations for the sake of not starting an argument. However, I do not believe just because some people may be afraid of disagreeing with another person that these topics, especially politics, should never be spoken of. In my own experience I have noticed that young people shy away from political conversation,

Voting is possibly one of the greatest civic duties that individuals can do for their government; by going out and intellectually voting for a candidate that represents themselves and those like-minded. However, it has become tradition in the United States for the American youth to vote in far less numbers compared to the rest of the eligible voters. According to a study done by Harvard University, young adults have not only have lower voter participation compared to the older population, but their participation had been gradually falling overall from 1968 to 2004. Consequently, this long standing practice has led to issues with underrepresentation of America’s youth and in my opinion has aided in the gradual fall of voter participation overall now and will lead to an even increased fall in the future.

“In 2013, Takoma Park — a small, progressive enclave in a suburb of Washington, DC — became the first city in the US to lower its local election voting age to 16. In Takoma Park, the turnout rate for 16- and 17-year-olds not only exceeded that of every other demographic in the city’s 2013 and 2015 elections, but nearly quadrupled the overall average.” (Crockett) Because of the age requirement decrease in this area, votes increased significantly. Contrary to popular assumption, younger teens value being represented. Moreover, other countries have implemented this process with great success; “Internationally, at least 20 countries allow citizens under the age of 18 to vote. In Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina, and Nicaragua, 16-year-olds regularly contribute to the electoral process. In Greece and Indonesia, 17-year-olds can vote in national elections, and in Israel they have the right to vote in municipal contests. Recently, 16-year-olds in the Scotland election had a 75 percent turnout rate — higher than voters three times their age.” (Crockett). Through this evidence, it is obvious to see that lowering the voting age would be a step in the right direction for this country's democracy.

Many people live busy lifestyles therefore many do not have the time to vote. Many people now in days are rushing throughout life and are not taking things day by day. If people only were a bit more open and see how important their vote can contribute to a change in our society they would actually make time. Educating voters and future voters and making time for the voting process may increase the overall turnout. In my opinion education is where it all begins, if you’re not politically educated in who is who and what is what then you’ll never get up and vote. In order for one to do something I think you need to be knowledgeable of what you’re doing not just because your parents or family do it. Young voters need to know that voting is one

The articles portray the benefits to allowing sixteen-year-olds to vote. One of the advantages of the voting age decreasing is the increase in votes which would have a huge impact on the voting system: not only will it show how more citizens are getting involved but how younger people are paying attention and are familiarising

Youth in industrialized countries currently are more educated than any generation has ever been. While education levels have risen, the conventional wisdom is that this would cause levels of voter turnout and party attachment to climb, however, this has not been the case. (Nevitte 1996, 50-51) Despite the great deal of research on this topic, there is not consensus on the answer to this question. In these interviews I attempted to look at how different forms of participation were viewed by members of the LBGTQ+ community, in order to draw some inferences about why youth are less likely to vote.

While this sounds good there was plenty of miss information and understanding to the youth vote. In fact the youth vote was still the smallest compared to other ages and relative to everyone that voted. The large push was seen by minorities voting for could have been seen as a different color president. This is not to say that they voted for him purely by his color, but that it worked in his favor. All ages and races where seen on the media supporting the idea for a African American president. Even though the youth did see a relative increase in voting from year to year it did not compare to the usually suspects who do vote. Another aspect to mention is the midterm elections so the same usually numbers of youth voting, which was further evidence that the 2008, election saw more coverage and hype than others.

Like eligible registrants in the current system, those who are the most inclined to vote are those who are well informed on public policy and demonstrate an interest in contributing to their community. Supporters of this idea predict that the teens who are most likely to vote come from “politically active homes and are thus likely to amplify the power of an already well-represented group.” I believe that even students who don’t come from politically active homes are equally as capable of making well-informed decisions on public policy based on their own personal

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.

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

From within one year of being in highschool, I have learnt that young adults rush for almost everything. From rushing through their homework to rushing to the DMV as soon as they turn 16.As soon as 20 year olds turn 21 they cram into their nearest bar, to legally party all night.However there is one exception. You rarely see young adults rushing to register to vote when they turn 18.

New Zealand is a representative democracy, where general elections are held once every three years, to create fair votes. New Zealand citizens and residents are eligible to vote from the age of 18, however enrolling is required whereas, voting is not compulsory. The general elections are coming up soon, and according to the previous outcomes, the results of votes have been a concerning problem from the last previous years. This is mainly concerning within the younger age groups from 18-24. This is an important issue because if the younger voters are not fulfilling this opportunity, the level of youth engagement may not increase in the future. Due to the low levels of youth engagement, the policy solution needs to be modified in order to

"Hey, I live in Oregon, the president is already decided on before our voting polls close." Yes, we live in an apathetic society, but for reason. As a 21 year old registered voter, I generally vote, but I can understand why my classmates chose not to follow suit.