Every election cycle we are treated to all sorts of young folks who want Stuff Done and say they’ll vote this time and we know that they tend to vote Democrat because life hasn’t smacked them around yet, but, their votes tend to disappear come election day. Why?
Young People Aren’t Turning Out to Vote — but It’s Not Because They Don’t Care
The short answer? Voter suppression — which takes countless forms, including voter I.D. restrictions, inflexible work and school schedules that prevent citizens from taking time to vote, lack of civics education in schools, the sudden closing (or changing) of polling places, lack of childcare or eldercare, and hours-long wait times to cast a vote. A plethora of factors make voting in America less a thing everyone participates in, and more a competitive sport that seems to demand more training and planning than our systems currently offer.
“Instead of blaming young people and assuming they are tuned-out due to narcissism or apathy, we should work together across generations and institutions to remove voter impediments and implement best practices,†said Yael Bromberg, Chief Counsel for Voting Rights of The Andrew Goodman Foundation and Principal, Bromberg Law LLC. She explained that there are a range of obstacles placed in young peoples’ paths to vote, including the “over-reliance by young people on provisional ballots,†voter identification laws, and the issue of accessible polling locations. Bromberg conducted studies on youth voting rights and the twenty-sixth amendment, which also cited cuts to early voting and same-day registration, voter intimidation by election officials sharing misinformation, and gerrymandering as factors that threaten the youth vote.
Dismissing the 18 to 29-year-old voter demographic as apathetic or lazy does a disservice to the country: Instead of acknowledging the barriers that make it difficult or even impossible to vote, critics take the simpler route, rejecting a demographic as non-participatory rather than grappling with solving the systemic issues.
I’m 52: I’ve never had a problem getting to the voting booth. I’ve never had an issue with having a proper ID. Never had an issue with school or work schedules, especially with early voting. “A lack if civics in schools”? Which Party runs most of the education system? I never needed teachers to teach me how to vote, because it is freaking easy. You do research, which is a lot easier now than back in the 80’s and early 90’s, then you go vote. How hard is that? Why is it that people 30+ can deal with all these factors, including childcare and long wait times and such, yet, 29 and under can’t?
BTW, if you’re 21+, you aren’t a young person. You are a pure adult. And, with all this whining and Victimhood, we’re supposed to extend the vote to 16 and 17 year olds?
Mercedes Molloy, 19, a student at The New School, had her mother mail her the absentee ballot after it was sent to her parents’ house. After informally polling her peers at school, she found a lot of her college classmates were registered, but they didn’t vote because their ballot wasn’t sent to their college address it was sent home. The lack of guidance around absentee voting proves to be a “challenge for out of state students, specifically first-generation college students and first-time voters,†she said.
I had zero problem getting and mailing my ballot, attending ECU in NC while still being registered in NJ.
What this is really about is creating Excuses for when Trump wins in November.
Read: Why Aren’t Young Folks Voting? Voter Suppression Or Something »
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