Duty, Right, Tool: Why It’s Essential for Young Americans to Vote
Does my vote count? Why should I vote? These are questions every young American has heard before. American youth vote at lower rates than the general public. In fact, American youth had only a 55% turnout in the last presidential election. This is noticeably lower than the national average of 66%. Young people are the future of this country, and having so many of them unengaged in the future of our country is dangerous. A true democracy requires the participation of everyone. In the 2024 election, young people must vote for three reasons: it's our duty, it protects our freedoms, and it advances legislation.
It is our civic duty as Americans to participate in the political process. Every year across the world, people die fighting for the rights so many of us take for granted. The fight for the vote has taken place at home as well. At America's founding, only white, property-owning males had this right. People sacrificed their safety by facing dogs, hoses, and police batons to ensure that millions more people today could vote. They understood that in our American democracy, voting is our power and that equal governance can only occur when power is equal. To ensure that our government fairly represents young voices, we must exercise our power to vote.
Across America, the rights and freedoms of young minorities are under attack, and voting is our tool to defend them. In the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, the Supreme Court decided that there was no constitutionally protected right to abortion. Consequently, Many states passed abortion laws that ban abortion at six weeks, which is before many women even know they are pregnant. This decision meant that recently, in Ohio, a 10-year-old rape victim wasn't able to receive an abortion in her state. Even worse is that bans this strict have been proposed and considered at the federal level.
LGBTQ rights are also under attack; there are currently 460 anti-LGBTQ bills being considered at the state level alone. These laws passed so far target drag performances, gender-affirming care, and school curricula, which harm the safety and dignity of LGBTQ individuals. These discriminatory policies are the direct result of voting.
The judges who made the Dobbs v. Jackson decision were appointed and confirmed by elected leaders who didn't support reproductive freedom. State governments that are considering these LGBTQ bills were also elected. If more young people turned out to support leaders who would protect reproductive freedom and LGBTQ rights, then these rights would still be in place.
Right now, politicians are working on policies to better the lives of young Americans. Two policies that young people feel very strongly about are Climate Change and College Affordability. Climate change may seem apolitical, but it's not, and it is another reminder of why voting is important. Every year, big oil companies spend millions of dollars lobbying legislative offices to ensure they can continue to destroy our climate. Despite this, leaders in Washington passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which included $400 billion to fight climate change. Similarly, the Biden-Harris administration has forgiven billions of dollars in student loan debt. These policies were partly made possible because of votes from young people concerned with these issues. Imagine how much more we could accomplish if all young people voted.
Young people have immense power to sway elections. Youth involvement in elections is essential and is often a deciding factor in many close contests. Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election by a combined margin of 80,000 in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Hillary would have won if a small fraction of the young people had voted, and the American political landscape would look very different.
That's why this year, we all must exercise our civic duty and vote to protect and restore our freedoms and planet. The general election is on Nov 4, and primaries are underway nationwide. If you still need to register, there is still time to do so; for information, check your state board of election website. The power to decide this election is in our hands.