By Janiya Harrison
Barack Obama once said “There’s no such thing as a vote that doesn’t matter. It all matters.”
In the 2016 election 55.5% of 250,056,000 people voted. That is roughly 112,000,000 votes that weren’t given. Change cannot be expected when we choose to not take the required steps towards it. The 2020 Election is turning out to be one of the more significant elections in recent history.
There are at least 4,020,000 young adults getting to vote this year for this first time. I remember in elementary school we got the opportunity to hold a mock voting center. We were told about each candidate and their views on making change in the world. They didn’t tell us what political party the candidate was associated with or who had more money. We solely voted on who wanted to make a change.
America is now caught in the web political parties. Talking with many teens, I have found that we tend to follow the political views of our parents. This can be a damaging thing because they were brought up in a different times, some during a time where segregation was slowly fading away and gender equality in high power places was still on for debate.
As this being my first time voting in a Presidential Debate, I felt very included in how our world will be shaped for the next four years. I encourage you to voice your opinion and go vote!
“I believe that not many teens know how to properly vote. Not saying they don’t know who they want to vote for, but instead the process of getting to vote. I remember when it came time for me to vote for the first time, I was highly confused. How long do I wait in line? Where do I go to register?” said Liz ’22 Nursing Major.
This can be a very tricky part about voting, the unknown adventures it takes to get to the process of voting.
Basic Voter Information
- Election Day is usually set for the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November or the first Tuesday after November 1st.
- The registration deadline is usually 3-4 weeks prior to the voting day.
- With us being on a college campus and from different parts of the U.S. or the world there are various options for registration. You can either go home to register, have a registration form sent to your P.O. Box, or register during a registration day on campus.
- If you registered while getting your driver’s licenses you are good to vote in your home county.
- Information that is needed to register is the following: Name, home address, mailing address, date of birth, phone number, ID number (drivers licenses or social security number), choice of party (Democrat, Republican, or Independent), race, and end it with a signature.
Basic Party Information
The United States has two major political parties: Republican and Democrat. Republican is a more connected with social and fiscal conservative polices while Democrats are more connected to supporting social safety liberalism. For the longest time I believed that depending on what your net worth was you belonged to one of these groups. It’s good to know these things so you can align your beliefs with what party you feel most comfortable with. In the U.S. you are not subjected to voting for only democrats or republicans. You can vote for candidates in different campaigns that are associated with different parties, such as the Green Party and Libertarian Party.
“When figuring out who to vote for, I start by researching the policies of each candidate. I think it’s important to figure out the ideology of each candidate and figure out who best aligns with me. The next thing I take into consideration is each candidates character. I want to vote for someone who will show leadership and do what’s best for the country! Know the policies, know the candidates, and know your values. Once you know all of this, then you can make the best decision for you and the country,” said Blake Elizalde ’23, Student Body Treasure.