Americans ages 18-29 years old have been doing poorly on midterms, and I’m not talking about college exams. You have probably been bombarded by the news (and by your Facebook friends) about the 2016 election. The hype and attention that presidential elections get makes us forget about the midterm elections. Midterm elections happen in the even-numbered years that aren’t already presidential elections. Even though we are not electing a president during midterms, a third of the Senate and the entire House of Representatives are up for grabs making these elections a significant part of our democracy.

For presidential elections, typically around 60 percent of the eligible voting population participates. In the 2008 presidential election, general turnout was 61 percent whereas young Americans lagged behind by turning out 51 percent. This lag is far worse in modern midterm elections. In the 2014 midterm election, only 19.9 percent of eligible 18-29-year-old Americans voted compared to 36.4 percent of the general population. The statistics for the general population include the 18-29-year-old voting group, so the actual difference between the 18-29-year-old voting group and the older voting groups is larger. In the 2014 election, that difference was nearly 30 percent.

Since voting data was first collected, young Americans have always voted less than other age groups. However, the discrepancy in voter turnout between younger and older voters has been growing. Voter turnout has stayed steady among Americans 30 years and older but has dropped with younger voters. In 1967, 48 percent of young eligible Americans had voted at least once. In 2014, only 28 percent of eligible young voters had ever voted. It is important to note that the youth of the 1960s were likely motivated by both the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement.

The lack of voter turnout does not necessarily mean that millennials have become completely apathetic to politics. Millennials still participate in other political acts such as rallies and protests. UCLA found that this generation of young Americans is the most willing to participate in a political demonstration compared to previous generations – a rate even higher than the youth during the Vietnam War. This interest in political activism does not translate into greater voting participation because the fraction of millennials willing to participate in demonstrations is still low – one in 10. The lower voter turnout is likely a result of a decrease in political interest among the remaining nine.

While protests have had crucial roles in initiating change, you do not have to protest to have your opinion heard. By exercising your power to vote, you are promoting your own interests and opinion. The ballot is the bridge between the person and politician. A politician cannot represent your interests if you do not vote, and yes, politicians do represent the interests of their voters because voting ultimately determines their employment status. No matter how vocal our protests and rallies are, we lose our voice and power when we do not vote.