Millenial Voting

One reason that Americans shouldn’t be required to vote is because not very many people vote due to their education level or because of their age. People who have an education level less than a highschool diploma are less likely to vote than a person that has gone to college and is a postgraduate (Doc. B). People who are 60 and older have 70-75% voter turnout as to where people who are

Being able to cast my first vote in the 21st century is a privilege. My generation needs to accept their patriotic responsibility and vote because many reforms are needed in order to carry us into the new millennium. Voting reforms are necessary to inspire political participation for other modifications and adjustments needed in areas such as health care, education, and Social Security, all which we as young people will face in the future. Participation in elections is necessary to facilitate and enable progress, but our present day system of voting is expiring by frustrated Americans.

I believe that before the presidential election of 2008 the group of people who would most likely vote is people ranging from 30 to 65 years old. The reason is people usually around 30 to 65 years old are in a stage of their life where they’ve established their homes, probably have a stable job, and settled in their communities. So, those who usually come from a stable community roots are more likely to have reason and greater resources to becoming involved in politics and to vote. However, over the recent years younger generations are starting to vote because of mobilization through social media. This new technology allows candidates to really engage the younger people by websites like Facebook which will help them become informed on polls,

Only 53.6% of eligible voters vote, leaving 46.4% not voting (“Political Participation in the US”). This 46.4% of people do not believe their votes count. They believe that the Electoral College system cancels out their votes and that the government will not listen anyway. People think that nothing will change due to the incumbency rate in Congress. That is where the people do not see what is really happening. Americans do not vote enough, so they cannot possibly make a change in government when they are not exercising one of their most powerful rights. Citizens of other countries yearn for the right to vote and Americans who fought so hard for this right do not even use it. “US voting rates are among the lowest in the developed world” (“Political Participation in the US”). Young people should be concerned with this issue. Because America has a democratic form of government, political participation is necessary, everyone’s vote counts, and corrections in government can only be made by the people first.

America has been built on the idea that as citizens, we have the choice to decide what is the best for our country. Millions of Americans cast their vote every election day to make sure their voices are heard on who is going to run their country and what new policies they will bring with them. As stated in Anny Shin’s article, “Takoma Park 16-year-old savors his history-making moment at the polls,” voting is a, “valuable privilege,” in which many don’t realize. In the United States, not every is allowed to vote, only 18-year old citizens are allowed to vote. However the number of 18-year olds voting is very low and this has been an issue in the political for quite a while. The concerns and desires of most millennials are not being expressed as many are not voting. Many, like the city of Takoma have proposed to allow 16 and 17-year olds to vote as they believe that voting among millennials will increase.

In her article, “Higher Youth Voter Turnout Could Change Election Outcome: Pollster,” Joan Bryden argues that political leaders do very little to engage youth in upcoming elections. Currently, political leaders are focus mostly on older voters who do vote, rather than younger voters who are looking for more change. By only focusing on those who do vote, politicians fail to see how younger voters are more keen on change occurring in their society. As a result, younger voters do not understand what politicians stand for during the election. Political leaders could do more to encourage youth voters by “adopting a more helpful, can-do manner,” through face-to-face interaction and mobile technology, discussing topics of concern such as affordable housing and education, finally, communicating a clear picture of what their party stands for.

In 2014, about 36.4% have been registered and can vote. In the article, “Takoma Park 16-year-old savors his history-making moment at the polls,” by Annys Shin, Ben Miller had said,” I understand the apathy. How much of a difference will it really make?”, “ I’m still excited about the opportunity. The turnout is so low, even a small amount could make a difference.” He means that even many people who are not interested of voting, he is still happy that with this new voting age, it can increase the rates from

In chapter one, Wattenberg discusses the declining trends of Americans who regularly read newspapers between the 1960’s and present day. This can be attributed the aging patterns among generations who frequently read newspapers as well as with the use of technology rising. Reading the newspaper is a habit that either is or is not developed by the time one reaches voting age. With this, newspapers have become an older generation’s primary source of information, however, are still the best source for political matters. Younger generations tend to be more computer literate and have grown up with television and media more accessible to them than the previous generation. These trends not only reflect in American culture, but in other countries

The main point according Martin P. Wattenberg in Is Voting For Young People is that young people today do not vote during elections as much compared to other voting groups. Young people today are politically unengaged. “These state patterns of voting participation can be confirmed on the national level by the Census Bureau’s 2010 survey data. Among U.S. citizens under the age of 30 in 2010, only 24 percent reported that they voted.” (Page-188, IVYP) The low attendance of young people voting in Presidential elections indicates that young people do not care enough about politics to participate.

It seems as though the younger population of voters have all grown up in a world where they have been influenced to believe that their one vote will not make a difference, and therefore they do not bother to take the time out of their busy schedules to cast their meaningless vote. In the last presidential election, only one out of four citizens between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four casted their vote (“Is the System broken?”). The opinion that one vote will not make a difference appears to be directly respondent to the younger generation of voters. This generation needs to be educated on the difference that one vote can make.

We see young adults voicing their opinion many times in protests during the presidential election. There are many of them participating in protests to support their presidential candidate or to tear down the ones they dislike in this year's current election as well. But, as history has proven, their voices will be unanswered, despite it being so loud, because the

Why vote? This is a major question among many young Americans today. America's youth, does not take the time to read articles, observe the news, or pay attention to presidential debates and campaigns due to their busy schedules. This creates two problems. First, young voters have little knowledge of current issues in the election. Also as a result, they are unaware of the importance of voting. Each presidential election stirs up an old controversy of whether to vote or not to vote. There are many young people who think that voting is not important; I believe that it is. By voting you are exercising your right as an American to voice your opinion, and young Americans need to become aware of this.

1. Only 21 percent of the voting eligible population in 2014 were young adults ages 18-29 (“why student voters matter”, 2016).

Old people are the most reliable voters for this country. They have the highest percentage of voters of any age group because they know candidates will focus on Social Security and Medicare. However, young people do not like to vote they think it is a waste of time. They are focused on college, social life, and cars, etc. If a lot of young people show up and vote, the politicians will get the message that young people have a voice just as much as the old people.

Younger people ages 18 – 24 have been less likely to vote in the past due to lack of interest, money, or time to go. Also, they just had a lack of information so they just didn’t care to have