Young people are engaged, but face obstacles to voting

Young people are the future of our country. When today’s leaders retire, we will be left in charge of the U.S. government with all of its complex facets. We will inherit the economy, education system, health care system, and the criminal justice system, among others. Though these institutions function to varying degrees today, they all are riddled with imperfections that must be fixed over time. There are decades of work ahead of us to establish a fair and free America, and we must step up to this daunting challenge.

Fortunately, young people have already shown that we have an immense passion for today’s political issues. We can’t help but get involved when the implications in our daily lives are so clear. Issues such as climate change, racial inequity, gun violence, and student debt threaten our well-being as well as the future of the entire world. Our generation has organized vigils, walkouts, rallies, and strikes around the country. The message is clear: We want change now.

Though our young generation expresses so much passion, our voter turnout is consistently low in general elections and even lower in local elections. Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement reported that as many as 56 percent of eligible voters ages 18-29 voted in this presidential election, which still leaves almost 50 percent of the youth population uninvolved. If young people are so passionate, why do so many not vote?

The most obvious cause of this lack of engagement is a widespread sentimentamongst our generation that the government doesn’t care about our problems. Pew Research Center reported in 2015 that only 38 percent of eligible voters ages 18-29 said that they had “quite a lot” of confidence in the future of America. The reasoning for this pessimism stems from our country’s establishment. More than two centuries ago, the Founding Fathers formed a government that benefited wealthy, powerful, white men with land, and no one else. This institutional discrimination has disenfranchised poor people, people of color, and women ever since.

Now, most candidates simply adhere to the system as it is and don’t attempt to change it in any fundamental way. Candidates often run on platforms of fundamental change and then bend towards inaction once they’ve won their elections and become entrenched in the establishment. We want candidates who will consistently tackle our most important issues and produce substantial results.

Numerous forms of voter suppression also block young people from carrying out their civic duty to vote. These injustices are more common in southern states, where legislators tend to have an unsubstantiated fear of election fraud. Young voters have to deal with frustrating roadblocks such as specific school IDs, proof of school enrollment, and proof of residency. In addition, there are often long lines at polling centers because states suffer from underfunded election infrastructures. With daily occupational, scholastic and family issues to deal with, young people often do not feel that going through all of this effort to vote is worthwhile.

To shift this disappointing paradigm of poor youth political engagement, we need to hold our politicians accountable for representing our country’s young people and repeal the unjust voter suppression roadblocks that disenfranchise a large portion of our population. Every vote is important, especially in a closely divided state such as North Carolina (where we have a Democratic governor and two Republican senators!). As people who will inherit this country one day, young people deserve a seat at the table.