Tomorrow is a big day.
Public schools and government offices get to have the day off. University students, however, will continue to have classes, and more likely than not, a small percentage of us will realize why Tuesday, Nov. 5 is an important day. Tomorrow is Election Day, and as citizens of voting age, it is our responsibility to recognize the difference that our vote can make.
As Americans that are over 18 and not imprisoned, we are granted the right, and the privilege, to vote for what we believe in. Our vote can significantly influence the local, state and federal government and we should recognize that fact. Unfortunately, we do not. Voter turnout among Americans aged 18 to 24 has dropped significantly from 55 percent in 1972 to 42 percent in 2000 ("Young voters had better enter the fray," Roanoke Times, Aug. 18). If this decline continues, there will be less reason for politicians to consider campaigning in areas where younger voters live or congregate because the voting statistics will no longer be significant. We should not let this happen.
Major efforts have been made on and around Grounds. With fliers, speeches and the recent Rock 'N Rally in Mad Bowl, students have no excuse for not being registered to vote. Yet many young voters are not yet registered and few recognize the importance of getting out and casting a ballot. According to a recent study conducted by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, nearly 75 percent of young people surveyed believe they really don't count and that candidates prefer to address their older and wealthier voting public.
Many citizens of voting age choose not to vote. This happens for a variety of reasons such as being too lazy to make it to their appointed voting locations, being too busy to apply for an absentee ballot, or just plain ignorance of the importance of voting. There may even be some cases of conscious choices not to vote. Citizens may choose not to vote because they do not feel well enough informed on the issues at hand and do not wish to make a bad decision. All of these reasons for not voting are unacceptable. You should take a few minutes to an hour out of one day of your life in order to help shape the leadership of our country. You can read newspapers or research issues online in order to feel better informed about issues before voting. There is no good excuse for not voting if you are legally able to.
There is a good reason that politicians choose to turn their focus to the older voting crowds. Until we as college-age Americans realize the importance of our vote and increase our voter turnout, we will continue to be a waste of politicians' time.
There is no excuse for not being registered after the Rock 'N Rally. In a concerted effort to provide entertainment to students while encouraging their political involvement, Student Council, the Inter-Fraternity Council, the Inter-Sorority Council, University Programs Council and the office of Vice President for Student Affairs successfully had 726 students either register to vote or obtain an absentee ballot. With over 3,000 students turning out for the event, this is a fairly sizeable number. But we as a voting population should do better.
We should be especially concerned with this election because it can directly affect us via the infamous bond referendum. With voter approval on Nov. 5, the bonds would provide $846 million for higher education construction projects across Virginia, including a hefty $68.3 million for the University. As students and as a voting population, we should turn out in full force to help gain this advantage for our university.
By virtue of the democratic process, we are given a choice in our voting. There are no pseudo-elections with just one man running, like Saddam Hussein in Iraq. We have a plethora of candidates, all with different platforms and ideas. It is not asking too much for a voter to locate a pencil and simply fill in some bubbles according to how he or she would like to see the country be run. We do have a say in politics, and every vote really does count -- remember Florida in the 2000 presidential elections.
We should all recognize our importance as American citizens of voting age. We may not have a day off from classes tomorrow, but we should all make some time somewhere in the day to get out and vote. We should not only strive to make apparent our value as voters, and thus to encourage politicians to cater to younger voters, but we should also do what we can to increase voter turnout in general. We have been given this opportunity to have a say in the governing of our country. Get out on Nov. 5 and make the most of it.
(Alex Roosenburg's column appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily.
She can be reached at aroosenburg@
cavalierdaily.com.)
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