Vote and be heard

Voter turnout is already low, and now women are discouraged from voting

Constant complaints can be heard surrounding national politics, yet many of these complaints come from people who didn’t even use the opportunity to vote.

It’s as simple as this — don’t complain if you aren’t going to vote. With all this complaining, one would think many more people would go out to vote in the upcoming midterm elections — but that is far from true. According to a poll taken by the Harvard University Institute of Politics, only 1 in 4 millennials under the age of 30 plan to vote in the midterm elections this year. 

Emily Lowe

Emily Lowe

Millennials could have a large influence over the future of America by voting on Nov. 4.

But time and time again,  many millennials refuse to take part in the political process. Knowing this, one would assume all millennials should be encouraged to vote. Sadly, people are further discouraging millennials from making an appearance at the polls — in particular — young women.

A recent example comes from Fox News’ “The Five.” A co-host of “The Five,” Kimberly Guilfoyle, said young women are uninformed voters because they don’t have the right “life experiences” to make fact-based assumptions on the world. Guilfoyle even said to “excuse them so they can go back on Tinder and Match.com.” Because, apparently, voting is too complicated for young women, and their time would be better served hunting for a man instead.

If you are a woman, make sure to present your wedding band when you walk into the polls this year to prove you are a responsible voter. To realize how disgraceful it is to discourage anyone from voting, one must first realize what a privilege voting is in the first place. It was only 43 years ago with the approval of the 26th Amendment that 18 year olds were finally permitted to vote.

And before that, the approval of the 19th Amendment in 1920 allowed women to vote.

The expansion of the right to vote throughout U.S. history has moved America forward and created a more equal and fair society — both cornerstone ideals of U.S. society.

Students at the University of Idaho and across the nation should be informed about the issues and take advantage of their right to vote — a right denied to so many for so long.

Millennials are one of the most influential groups in the U.S. They impact economic trends, style trends and express their opinions on every form of social media. But, when it comes to changing politics, they are essentially mute compared to the loud speaker carried around by Baby Boomers.

Finally, not taking part in voting stops one from getting involved, which is one of the most important things to do in college. If students don’t vote now, there is a small chance they will in the future, which creates an even smaller chance of significant political change.

Men and women both have the power to make their votes count.  It’s time for Americans and young people to make a stand and show up to vote on Nov. 4. Now is the time to make a difference, and it begins with your vote.

Emily Lowe can be reached at [email protected]

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