Today in America, less than half of young voters between the ages of 18 and 24 vote (TheBestColleges.org). What most of these new adults fail to realize, is that their government depends on them to vote and elect new leaders to represent their country. Many of them make excuses to avoid voting, when really, they benefit most from voting. New voters often make the excuse of not being interested enough in politics to be bothered with voting, and in turn they moan about the government and all of the problems that are caused by it. They decide not to vote, and then blame the older generations for ruining America, when in reality they could have made a big impact on who is elected. Or, they excuse their lack of voting on the fact that it’s just too much work to watch debates and keep up on what each politician is saying. That they cannot take a little bit of time out of their days to update themselves on what’s going on in the world of politics. Even something as simple as skimming social media for a few minutes can educate voters on what they need to know in that moment. The youngest group of voters makes up a large chunk of the voter demographic in America. That is a huge advantage against other …show more content…
Many resources are available, such as debates, social media (great resources for this are Twitter.com and Tumblr.com), or even a simple search on Google or YouTube. However, only researching the candidates that are for someone’s political party is not a smart idea; to be fully educated, everyone should be educated on all sides, because new opinions can form. A Republican could end up voting Democratic, or vice versa. Personal debates are also a good way to get involved and hear other’s opinions on politics. Engaging in friendly discussions over the pros and cons of each candidate could make a huge impact on one’s decision on whom they are most likely to vote
It is our civic right and duty to actively participate in governmental affairs. This recent election really highlighted the divide in opinion regarding the importance of governmental participation. “To many, our democratic system seems so broken that they have simply lost faith that their participation could really matter,” West writes in his essay entitled The Deep Democratic Tradition in America. Young people feel unimportant and irrelevant, which explains the lack in turnout from young voters ages 18-29. However, it wasn’t just young voters that didn’t turnout. Millions of eligible voters didn’t show up for the 2016 elections. A democracy without active participants is a democracy bound for
To enforce voting to be mandatory , this will prompt more Americans to pay attention to the choices for their representatives. Mandating would stimulate the demand side, motivating voters to understand and acknowledge who they are voting for. Therefore , voting is to be a responsibility than a option.
Young adults (age 18-26) are much less likely to go to vote than older people are. In addition, most young people’s interest in service has not extended to include political service. Older people are much more likely to vote in elections than younger people are. (Hershey, 2015, p. 168) moreover, older people tend to vote more frequently and consistently than young
The United of States of America is a nation largely founded on the desires of its people to participate in governmental process. Once Abraham Lincoln said, “Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.” Although, there is no government ran “by the people,” however, unless the American people appoint their public officials through free and fair elections, or simply voting. Voting is defined as a formal indication of a choice between two or more candidates or courses of action. Voting is a constitutional right and responsibility as an American citizen -- the right to voice his or her opinion in how our nation is governed and the responsibility of being informative or participating in democratic process.
“Only 6 in 10 eligible Americans vote in presidential elections, and turnout for midterm elections is typically much lower, around 33 percent of eligible voters; for local elections, turnout is even lower,” (217). Through the lack of voting there is not enough of the popular voice being heard. There need to be a jumpstart on the younger generation to care for what is happening around them. It should not just be the older generation voting on laws, which are going to have a bigger impact on this current generation than the older generation. Our first amendment states, ““Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” (Cornell University Law School). Through this right, our Founding Fathers allowed the citizens of the United States of America to voice their option without the fear of harm. To have the freedom of speech is not seen in ever country but in the U.S., this right should allow everyone to feel free to state their options. The turnout for voting should not be this low, but is, as citizens have not been coming out to vote in the past few
The United States of America, one of the most well developed countries in the world, has a huge
To begin with, younger voters are not interested in the presidental election as much as older voters. According to a U.S Census Bureau report, only 38% of voters in the 18 - 24 age group voted in 2012. Which means younger voters did not vote at all in the 2012 presidential election. Allowing younger citzens to vote may not increase the voting participation in the presidential or congressional elections.
They might say that sixteen through seventeen year olds may not be educated enough. If anything sixteen is a great age to start voting. It’s right when you start learning about politics. As you get older you tend to forget things, so it’s better to vote when you are sixteen because the knowledge is fresh in your mind. When you are at the age of sixteen you are stable. When you are eighteen you are out looking for a home to live or going off to college. They have better things to think about than politics in their mind. With the recent presidential election people have been complaining about Donald Trump becoming president, if sixteen through seventeen year olds were allowed to vote then Hillary probably would have won. If you check on an all the social media then you’ll see that most of the teenagers have strong opinions and are with
Bringing 16-year-olds into the election will allow for new voices and new ideas that are rarely ever considered by actual adults such as school grade education. More often than not, when a specific age group is finally given the opportunity to express their ideas towards politics they take it. In Canada, after 18-year-olds were given the eligibility to vote, in the 1972 election, voter turnout increased by approximately 2 million ballots in comparison to its previous election in 1968 (E.C 2015). By including 16-year-olds into our election, we would receive new interpretations in our elections that couldn’t be thought of by adults because the experiences they had as a 16-year-old differs from the adolescence we have
While there is truth in the fact that older people are more a custom to voting as shown by the 70% of older people who participated in voting from 1948 to 2012, that was 4 years ago and since then the younger community of people have started to show more intrest in political problems because by the age of 16 those things start to affect us as well. We are starting to realize our real world problems and are becoming more familiar with Americas politics. It's not only
Voting right was not freely granted in the beginning of time; many fought hard and died for this core belief. Youth voting right was established in 1972 with its highest turnout, yet “the percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds that vote has declined with each succeeding election since 1972.” (Wells & Dudash p.1280.) Even with the right to vote, it alone is not sufficient to fully make a country a democracy; the people themselves need to exercise that right. Unfortunately, many youths today take this right for granted and ultimately abandoned this crucial process to which it is the fundamental necessity of democracy. Thus, democracy is at risk until these youths found the calling from within and started participating in this democratic system of voting.
In Australia the young adults “are less likely to be enrolled to vote than older groups. An estimated 300,000 Australians aged 18 to 25 do not vote in elections because they have not enrolled” (31,2006). While in the United States, “19% of all votes cast in 2012 came from young voters” (2016). While voting does not effect young children since they cannot vote, however when teens vote it allows them to become more educated in their country and their political system. Since most of the teens in Australia do not vote, they do not have copious amount of knowledge from their countries political system. Having this knowledge will allow students to use this knowledge in their school life helping them understand history and government
Thus, the key is to target young voters. It needs to be easier to vote for the first time, and the government also needs to send the message to young people that their vote matters. Both goals can be accomplished with a rather simple adjustment of the electoral system. With the implementation of election-day voter registration and a single transferable vote system, the United States of America can show its young citizens that it is not only easy to vote, but that their vote is actually worth something.
Many young people think they have the knowledge they need in order to vote. Some of them do. Kids nowadays have there eyes on elections more than ever. In the age of social media teens see everything that's going on in this country. Some kids pay better attention to elections and other news because they’re constantly on social media and see stuff everyday. Social media
Voting is very much in the mind of the individual. Many United States citizens feel as though they have a civic duty to vote, that the democratic process doesn 't work unless people are actively participating in it- Others believe that their vote isn 't going to make a difference. Citizens who need the most help from the government and could get the most help, are often unable to have their voices heard. Vote suppression decreases the number of eligible voters and minimizes the electoral power of individuals. With the rise of social media, there are more young people involved in politics now more than ever, but a large number of the younger generation still do not vote. There are several reasons that one might