“Have you registered to vote yet?” an enthusiastic middle-aged woman asked with her clipboard ready in hand.

“Yes ma’am, I’m all set,” I responded for what seemed like the 100th time in the weeks before the 2016 election.

It seemed extremely annoying at the time - constantly informing these well-meaning volunteers that I was already registered to vote. But after it was all over and the election results were in, it hit me why they had tried so hard to get as many college students registered to vote as possible.

Overall, 60.2% of eligible citizens voted and approximately only half of eligible millennials voted in the 2016 presidential election. This was exactly what these volunteers were trying to prevent. Every eligible person should vote, but, being a millennial myself, I am disappointed that only half of the people my age care about the future of this country. Young people must vote; we are the upcoming generation and we have to care about policies that are being put in place now that will affect us currently and in the times ahead.

As Americans we have the privilege and civic responsibility to voice our opinions by voting. In most countries these days, the majority of their citizens have the ability to vote, but not all. Therefore Americans must express their opinions and vote in order to support the democratic republic system which helps spread democracy to the rest of the world where it is still lacking.

Voting is something every citizen should care about because they should want to have an effect, no matter how small, in elections that determine who has power over them and the legislations people want invoked. Americans must also take note that local elections and congressional elections matter just as much as the presidential election.

The US Census Bureau reports that the voting rates of every age group between 18 and 64 has dropped between 1978 and 2016, while the voting rate for those over 65 has not been very different. In 2016, the voting rate for the 65-and-older age group was 70.9% compared with 46.1% of 18 to 29 year-olds.

Voting is your responsibility because you were either born here, have citizenship, or dual citizenship. Inside of you there should be an allegiance to America and likewise a strong belief in democracy, the government our country was built on. People who do not vote and yet insist on complaining about congressmen, presidents, and representatives are frustrating and a part of the problem.

There is no valid excuse for not voting because it does not take a lot of time and it is easy to register. You just have to go to the County Board of Elections Office and sign up.

Some of you might be wondering why I am talking about this now and I will tell you why. It is because people should register now so that they can vote in local elections that are also important and so that people do not put it off to the last minute when the 2020 presidential election comes around.

The results are in and the age group that most of us reading this article are in has been slacking. We can make a difference and reverse the change by choosing to fulfill our civic responsibility by voting in upcoming elections that are happening this fall and in the approaching years ahead.