The 2016 presidential election is the first election where I am eligible to vote. I remember when I was little, voting to me was just something that my parents had to do. Even though I knew that the age when I could legally vote was 18, I didn't think to much of it. In my mind, I had plenty of time.
Of course, we must now fast forward to 2016. I took the time to register to vote and, to be honest, it was a lot easier than I expected. You just had to get a form, fill out a form and send the form off. Simple as that, unless you really do have an issue filling out forms. Then it may not be that simple for you.
Anyway, in addition to hearing about the candidates and what not, I've also heard people talking about the youth vote and the youth turnout at the polls. I remember reading this one article from NPR that talked about whether or not young people would actually turn out to vote in this coming election? Now, what I found interesting about this article was that the author brought attention to what made the 2016 election different from the others. Basically, all millennials in the country would be able to vote this year. I had never thought about that.
This article made me think about how, from my point of view, more and more young people are becoming informed about politics. A huge part of this may be because of social media, since it's a big part of our culture at the moment.
It so hard to look at years past and say that you know exactly what's going to happen. I mean each election takes place over four years and as we've seen a lot can occur within four years. I've seen a lot of young people around my age expressing their own opinions and thoughts about the election. It's not just I hate this person or this person is amazing. A lot of it is actually very thoughtful and observant in a sense. Of course, people aren't always going to agree with each other's opinions, but you can at least say that you understand where they're coming from.
In my opinion, there is a strong likelihood that this election will be different and that more young people will take the time to vote. I mean, there are so many organizations and people who are working hard to influence young people to vote. A good example would be MTV's Elect This campaign. Essentially, the commercial shows the viewer images that capture many of the issues that are going on today. Those issues include the war on drugs, immigration reform, LGBT rights, gun control and student debt. It's a very short presentation, but its impact is massive.
Your vote is important, whether this is your first election or your sixth. Don't just go out and vote because it's your duty as a citizen. Vote because you want a chance to have a say. Vote because you want to be heard. Vote because your opinion matters.
