Noahs political hot takes

     

  Why do Young people not vote?

If you arent 18 do you plan on voting when the next election comes around? And if you are 18 and over did you vote in the recent election? Voting isn't a privilege it's a right. You are helping better this country by going out and putting your vote out there. But many 18-24+-year-olds don't do this and those votes make up for almost 35% of the electoral vote. In 2016 only 20% of 18-year-olds voted. But in the most recent election, almost a staggering 50% of youth voters contributed to this election that is a 30% increase. Over seven million young voters went out for this election. But why? Why is this year so different from the past elections?

 Line Chart of Age groups by percentage in voting polls

What has changed over the years?

In recent years the youth voter hasn't 'cared' but what makes it different now? Well in 2020 there have been many controversies, such as police brutality, racism, the election, the Corona Virus, and pollution with climate change. Many things that young people really care about and are passionate about. Many believe that in order for our system to work there needs to be a change in our government. So this year more than the last have made the jump and gone out and put in their vote. I honestly believe that the reason this year affected a lot of young voters is because of all the political issues that happened this year and how the virus has been handled in our country as well. Young adults really take to things like that and they felt as if the government doesn't know how to deal with our countries problems. Another thing is that in this day and age young adults are very educated, the news is accessible everywhere. It's hard not to know what's going on in the world. These voters are by no means uneducated voters not knowing what they believe in and what they are against. That is why their votes matter so much because in my eyes this new generation of adults is what's going to cause change and see that change does happen

Does the Youth voters really matter?

In the 2016 election, the young voters made up only 21% of the vote. Young voters make up 31% of the overall electorate. To put into perspective ages 71 and up only makeup, 12% and ages 36-51 only make up 25%. This really does prove the weight that the young voters carry. Analysts predict that this percentage is only going to rise every year. There are 69 million 18-25-year-olds eligible to vote but only 30% of that actually go out and put in a ballot. This would change the outcome of every election if everyone took the time to go out and vote. 

    

                                                                Works Cited

File, Thom. "Voting in America." United States Census, US Census, 10 May 2017,
     www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2017/05/voting_in_america.html.
     Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.

    Holbein, John B. "Young People Want to Vote." Forbes, 7 Apr. 2020,
     www.forbes.com/sites/civicnation/2020/04/07/
     the-time-is-now-to-equip-young-people-to-be-good-voters/?sh=308320452dc5.
     Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.

    Khalid, Asma. "Millennials Now Rival Boomers as Political Force." NPR, National
     Public Radio, 16 May 2016, www.npr.org/2016/05/16/478237882/
     millennials-now-rival-boomers-as-a-political-force-but-will-they-actually-vote.
     Accessed 8 Dec. 2020.