Sam’s PSA: Please Vote
Everyone knows that it is important to vote and if the margin during the last Presidential race wasn’t proof enough for you, then you should read the explanation below. If you are not currently registered to vote, don’t fret. Just do it now. You can even do it online. Also, make sure your friends are registered to vote.
Taken from Perkel.com
Old people are the most reliable voters. They have the highest percentage of voters of any age group. And because of that, old people get what they want. If you’re running for public office, you better be protecting the interests of old people because old people will vote you out. On the other hand, young people don’t vote in large numbers and it’s not worth a politicians time to put a lot of effort in courting the young vote. Not that youth isn’t important, but if politician A focuses on the young voters and politician B focuses on the old voters, politician B wins, because old people turn out. Turn out is very important because the people who turn out and vote are the ones that rule. If you don’t turn out, you lose.
If you show up and vote, and get your friends to show up and vote, you are doing a service to the interests of young people, even if you vote for the wrong person. I wouldn’t worry too much about voting for the wrong person the first time. Like I said, it’s not likely your vote will be the deciding vote. But if a lot of young people show up and vote, the politicians will get the message that young people are a political force to be reckoned with. The needs of the youth will become more important to elected officials. They’ll be more interested in what you need if you turn out to vote.
Even registering to vote sends a message. The government collects statistics on what age groups are registered to vote. If you are registered you become a potential voter. When the word gets out that record numbers of young people are registering to vote, politicians will get the message and will be more interested in what’s important to young people. It helps you and young people everywhere if you register to vote.
