If you didn't see me share this story on my Twitter, here it is. My sister and I were going to the library to work on some schoolwork, and just as I was pulling into the library's parking lot, I remembered early voting had begun in Florida. So I turned to my sister, and said, "Hey, there's early voting," then pointed to the signs saying you could vote. "Let's get it done already." We set our stuff down, grabbed our wallets, and went to the booths. I asked the woman working there where we go, and she shows us, then adds, "You guys look way too young to be voting," and my sister and I laughed. She asked us if this was our first-time voting, so I said it was my second time (I voted in the midterm election), but my sister's first time. The woman then turns to the other workers and says, "Ayyeee we got a first time and second time voter," and they all started applauding and congratulating us, up until we left! At first, I thought it was funny, but then it hit me that many young people don't get out to vote. Why is that? I'll be discussing why young people don’t vote, and what should be done to get them to vote. One reason, and this is one I wanted to place emphasis on, is that young Americans may not want to vote (especially for Republicans) is that many people from the GOP demean young Americans involved in politics. When I interviewed Gavin Rollins, I asked him if his youth worked against him when he was city councilman. He said it did. The Democrats, through lies and persuasion, make it seem like they care about young people. I’m a firm believer of fixing your circumstances, but at the same time, young people want to know others care about them. The Democrats prey on this weakness. Instead of having people in the GOP say, “You’re too young/inexperienced,” they should encourage young Americans, because you know what? For those who say we’re too young, it’ll be US who’s running the country, as we’ve got our lives ahead of us. Instead of making condescending comments about how young we are, encourage us to keep going. I’ve met many older conservatives, and it feels good to hear them say, “It’s young Patriots like you give me hope for the future!”
There’re a few other reasons why I think young people don’t go out and vote. The first being a lack of education. Most 18-year-olds don’t leave high school and think, “Yay, let’s vote!” Most weren’t taught the importance of voting in high school, so they don’t go out to vote. When it was the midterms, I had no clue what/who to vote for. Thankfully, my mother did research with me, so we made a list for who/what to vote for. Another reason would be they simply don’t care to vote. They think it won’t make a difference, because it’s the Establishment type who always wins. That’s why young people like Donald Trump. He “rebelled” against the Establishment Republican norm. Same goes for Bernie Sanders, which is why every Democrat is supporting Biden. They want people who can be controlled, which turns young voters away more. That leads to my final reason, which is that young Americans don’t vote because they think it won’t make a difference. I find this to be ironic, especially from Leftists because they’ll be out in the streets protesting/advocating for certain rights. But the ONE place they can make a difference, they are almost never at: the polling booth.
So what can we do about young people who don’t want to vote? Education needs to find new ways about getting their students to understand history and civics. It’s not impossible for young people to understand politics, but it’s got to be taught in a way that resonates in students. If you don’t want more people advocating for socialism, teach them the truth. Most Leftists say they’re for socialism because “they don’t want government in all aspects of life,” but that’s exactly what it is. Look at countries that tried socialism, and see how "little" the government was in the citizens’ lives. This way you can possibly reteach those who didn’t know this information, or even convince someone who doesn’t care about voting why voting is important. Tell people that if they don’t vote, they can’t complain who’s elected. Even if you don’t like your party’s candidate, you should still vote for them. Because if their opponent wins the election, you can’t complain about that candidate winning, because you had the ability to change that.
I hope you liked this post! I wrote it in a bit of a rush because I have a Finance exam on Thursday at 3, so I've been studying for the last week/last 2 weeks. Pray for me on my exam!
Sources:
- https://youngpatriotrising.blogspot.com/2020/03/an-interview-with-gavin-rollins.html
- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51763333
- https://ysa.org/4-reasons-young-people-dont-vote-and-what-to-do-about-it/
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2018/09/20/many-young-people-dont-vote-because-they-never-learned-how-heres-free-class-now-schools-trying-change-that/
- https://medium.com/editing-untitled/the-one-argument-that-can-convince-people-to-vote-4042c70d386b
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