Editorial | Our duty in democracy

Illustration by Kat Fantone

Get out and vote.

Please, do it. Register to vote online, do a quick search on absentee ballots, research the candidates running and their positions. It doesn’t matter who you’re voting for but it’s important that you vote. Actually, it’s imperative.

The fate of our country rests upon our shoulders. It’s up to us to determine the direction our country follows and it’s of utmost importance that we utilize this position wisely. 

As college students, we’re often cast as apathetic voters. With the exception of an active few, the college-aged voting bloc often fails to achieve high rates of voter turnout.

In the 2018 midterm elections, college student voters defied this expectation, as turnout doubled from 19 percent in the 2014 midterm elections to 40 percent in 2018. This indicates that we are beginning to utilize our voice to see tangible changes that we care about. And it means there’s hope that our voting bloc will continue to use these voices in the upcoming 2020 presidential election.

But this increase, although spectacular, is still less than half of all eligible voters. That’s an issue – we’re the generation that is going to be affected by the policies implemented in this crucial time, so we need to be the ones making these decisions. It’s our futures at stake here.

That’s why we encourage everyone to get out and vote. It might seem as if our voices don’t make a difference, but they do. And this election might be the perfect chance for us to prove this – for the first time, Millennials are expected to surpass Baby Boomers as America’s largest generation in the electorate.  

That’s a big deal. Throughout our lives, we’ve had to live with the decisions made for us by the generations that came before us. Now, we have the opportunity to step up, vote and fight the battles we believe are worth fighting for. We have the chance to voice our opinions and not go along with the decisions made for us.

For many of us, the upcoming 2020 Presidential election will be the first time we’re able to vote in a presidential election. That’s why it’s imperative that we care about the primary elections – they literally decide the fate of November’s election.

Even if your preferred candidate doesn’t advance to the November election, that’s no excuse to not vote. If we want to see change and if we’re passionate about witnessing the legislation we care about, we need to vote. Just because the candidates aren’t your first choice doesn’t mean you should refrain from voting. We don’t need to entirely love a candidate in order to support them – that’s not how our country’s government works. There’s never going to be a president that caters to the interests of every American, but we should still work toward compromising so that our democracy can flourish.

Democracy requires effective, educated voting in order to succeed. Otherwise, we’re not truly electing officials who represent us, which is the entire point of having a representational democracy.

And if you chose not to vote, then you can’t complain about the state of politics in the country. You have the opportunity to change who’s in charge – use it! Don’t waste it and then spend the next few years complaining because you’re unhappy with the current state of politics. If you do vote and you’re upset with the results, then by all means, go ahead and complain. Otherwise, if you don’t vote, you are failing to adequately represent yourself and your interests.

Voting is our power in democracy. Voting gives us the chance to mold our country. Voting affords us the opportunity to express our support, our dissatisfaction, our interests and our doubts with our government. Allowing that opportunity to go to waste would be irresponsible. So go, get out and vote.