NYC-Feature Story

Young Voters: This Is Our Moment

By Anita Ames

When I turned 18 in March, I immediately registered to vote. I couldn’t wait to be granted suffrage and cast my ballot. But when I asked some of my peers who they were voting for, they simply said, “Nobody.”

They said they feel their vote won’t count, pointing out that former Democratic candidate Al Gore lost the 2000 election even though he had the most votes. “What’s the point of voting?” they asked me.

For me, the point is that no matter what happens and no matter how imperfect the Electoral College system might be (see below), I voiced my opinion. By voting, I’m personally saying something about what I feel needs to be done about the country. I want to see the next administration invest in public schools. I’d also like to see global warming taken more seriously by the next president. And I believe that not voting is like automatically voting for the opposite side on these issues.

The Youth Vote Strikes Back

Teens who think their votes won’t make a difference should think again. The number of young voters has risen steadily since the 2000 election, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).

Five times as many youth voted in this year’s Tennessee primaries as in the 2000 primaries. The youth vote tripled in Georgia, Missouri, Iowa and Oklahoma compared with 2000, according to CIRCLE.

The youth vote is on the rise partly because of the Internet. Youtube, blogs and social networking sites are making it easy for young people to get involved in and excited about the election. Young people are even using their MySpace accounts to share their opinions on the candidates, according to a recent article in the Kansas City Star.

Also, there was a baby boom in 1990, so there are many teens turning 18 this year, which means more young voters. Forty-four million people between the ages of 18 and 29 are eligible to vote this year, nearly a quarter of the voting population, according to Rock the Vote, an advocacy group for young voters.

So far, the youth vote is turning out to make a big difference in this election. In the Missouri primary, for example, at least 70,000 young people voted for Obama, and he won by just 10,000 votes, according to Rock the Vote.

The youth vote helped Obama win the Iowa caucus, too. He won by just under 20,000 votes, and 17,000 of them were from under-25 voters, according to a January article in Time magazine. I hope this will encourage teens to vote, because it shows that our voices can be heard and our votes really do count.