It’s important to register to vote

FIUSM Staff

Opinion@fiusm.com

Campaign season is upon us, and now more than ever, it is important for young people to stand up and make their voices heard.

The millennial voice has and continues to incite great social, political and economic change – we’ve seen our voices lend to historical moments such as the legalization of gay marriage and New York’s increase in minimum wage.

As millennials, we’ve learned to use advances in social media to promote solidarity, equality and reformation. However, if we want to cause systemic change, however, our work can’t stop there.

Though social media and online activism has it’s power, it is now time to take our power to the polls.  

Young voters, before anything else, should know whether or not they are registered to vote and where they should go to place their ballots.

If you are living in a different area than the one in which you are registered to vote, then it is important that you sign up for an absentee ballot. This way, you are still able to place your vote. Simply logging on to the state’s division of elections website will guide voters who want or need to vote absentee through the criteria of eligibility and the process of receiving the ballot.

Those who are not registered to vote at all, and want to register in Miami-Dade county can do so either at the DMV, online at miamidade.gov, or even during certain opportunities on campus, making the process less daunting on those who don’t have the time to go to the designated voting locations due to class, work or other commitments.

About 46 million young American citizens between the ages of 18 and 29 are eligible to vote – 7 million more than the 39 million seniors that are also eligible. Young people of the aforementioned demographic also make up about one fifth of the voting population.

It is important that millennials know the ways that they can make a difference in terms of elections – that their numbers, should they take advantage of the processes allowed them.

For those who feel as though their vote does little to cause change in government, perhaps consider this: by not voting, a citizen of any democracy is consenting to the decision made by other voting citizens. Any complaints regarding the results of an election are not only fruitless, but entirely hypocritical and brought upon oneself.

Those who do vote potentially have their lifestyles at stake and they understand that their voice, collected with the voices of others, can incite change, therefore they do what they can to preserve their interests.

There are also those who don’t share the same interests and needs as much of our generation, whose values and goals do not align with ours and, in the end, only add to the problems that we, as a generation, already face. Those are the people that vote while the majority of us sit back and complain about the current state of the nation. The change we want is only able to happen through us.

[Photo from Flickr]