Voting at Nutter Center | Photo by Arden Reimer | The Wright State Guardian.
The first time I voted was in 2020. It was probably one of the most important elections of this century. Two extremely polarizing figures were running for president. I was freshly 18 and only a year out of high school. I was not very educated other than my base knowledge of presidential elections, my school only having gone through the very basics of the election process.
Though through my ignorance of the process, I observed everything going on: the pandemic, the fights against racial injustices and all of these supposedly smarter and more grown adults acting like children. I did not want to vote at all, I did not enjoy either party, both of the candidates were not great and I did not find myself aligning with either’s planned policies.
It was not until I was convinced by my mother that I decided to vote for what I called “the lesser of two evils.” According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) by Tufts at Tisch College, I was one of the 55% of youths that voted in the election that year, which was a significant increase from the 39% in 2016.
Noticing a shift
I noticed a phenomenon after this. Our generation is starting to pay attention. It seems like since the 2020 election (and, by association, the pandemic) social media has had a magnifying glass over our politicians. I personally believe this is due to the injustices we have seen. For better or worse, it seems as though Generation Z has become more evolved and socially conscious. We are beginning to pay attention and call out things we deem wrong (again, for better or worse) and because of this, when given the opportunity to spark change, we act.
This statistically rings true. Joe Biden, the democratic nominee, was considered overall better in the eyes of Generation Z, and this shows according to the CIRCLE statistics. It makes complete sense, given his support of the Black Lives Matter movement and his support of the LGBTQA+ community, which even now are very important topics to our generation.
This also shows in his planned policies, including paying off student loan debts, codifying Roe v. Wade and promising the New Green Deal. These all were incredibly promising things that ultimately made my choice to vote for Biden. I was not alone in this choice, as Biden ended up having significantly more votes of the younger generations than Trump did, according to CIRCLE.
This does not mean Donald Trump did not have ANY younger voters, as he saw an increase of 10% of younger voters in 2020 than his winning 2016 election.
Then, according to CIRCLE, the overall youth voter turnout AGAIN increased by 29% in the 2022 interim elections, which are important due to the elections of Senators and Representatives in the throngs of abortion and trans rights talks. As a result of this election specifically, younger voices on both sides were elected into Congress, thus giving our generation a platform.
Going out and voting
Overall, we are getting more involved and starting to make a difference, but what is surprising is that pretty much everyone talks about politics and things not being right in our government, but only 55% of the entire population in our age group actually voted in the presidential election.
Imagine what we could get accomplished in society if EVERYONE did their part. Flashing back to the 2020 election, I was one of the only ones of my friend group to actually go vote. They all had their own reasons. Some were ignorant on how the process worked, some were like me and did not like either candidate, some did not know enough about the candidates in general and some just straight up did not feel like it. With exception for maybe the last reason, it is not too surprising as to why someone might have these issues.
Voting literacy is not exactly taught in schools, and schools do not necessarily promote voting to their 18-year-old students. If we had more education and work from schools and universities to sign kids up, we would have more participation. Now is a time that we need younger voters most. It is a pivotal time with BIG changes coming on the ballot, and if we continue this trend of younger voters, our voices will finally be heard.
They know we are watching
It is not as if these politicians do not know how powerful our votes are. One key moment that strikes me is the video of Hilary Clinton saying youth need to “Pokemon Go-to the polls.” Even though the video is funny, I think we all can agree that perhaps Clinton was targeting the wrong audience—but this is the earliest I can remember a politician trying to cater to the youth.
Another one that strikes my memory is Joe Biden making an Animal Crossing Island all about his campaign because Animal Crossing was super popular during the pandemic. Not to mention all of these politicians using various memes to joke about their policies and constituents.
They know we are watching. They know we have a powerful voice that can make or break their careers. If they know and are planning to get our vote, how come we are not voting? How come we are not making significant changes? As “twenty-somethings,” we have power in our voices, and we protest and fight for many things. If we truly want to be heard, voting is the ultimate way to do so.
To register to vote, visit the Ohio Secretary of State website. For a schedule of deadlines for voter registration and election days and times, click here.
