Why don't college-age people vote?
I know, I know, we all hear about how college students areignorant and don't vote because they are lazy, but how true arethose stereotypes?
In 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, out of 26.8million 18 t0 24 year olds, only 12.17 million registered. Evenless, only 38 percent (8.65 million) of us actually voted.
What happened to the spirit of 1971 when people our age lobbied,fought, and protested until Congress passed a constitutionalamendment lowering the voting age to 18? Was it all in vain? Didthose people that died protesting on college campuses fight so thatwe could sit on our butts and do nothing?
Obviously, the college population of the late 60's and early70's cared about something. How disheartening it must be to thosepeople that the college students of today are put into the samesituation as they were, yet we are complacent. They were faced witha needless war, as are we. They felt the grasp of a tyrant in theWhite House, as we do now. So what makes us different? Is it reallyall about the students' laziness?
No. Those same people and organizations that claim to want tohelp 18- to 24-year-olds vote are the same ones who create barriersthat make it harder for us to vote. Many districts refuse to putpolling places on campuses, and even though many college townssurvive solely on the college located there, registration drivesamong students are under-funded and hardly existent.
Students have been threatened a number of times, even recently,when it comes to voting. A Fox affiliate in Tucson, Ariz. reportedthat an elections official warned students at the University ofArizona who registered from their dorms that they could becommitting a felony because they are not a permanent resident.These charges are false, of course.
Election officials are not solely to blame for the lack of youngadult voters, colleges carry some of the weight also. In 1998,Congress passed the Higher Education Act that gives colleges anduniversities funding to make a "good-faith effort" to get voterregistration forms to all students. Unfortunately, in a studyreleased by Harvard University's Institute of Politics, fewer than17 percent of schools make real efforts.
Eighteen- to 24-year-olds make up over 11 percent of the votingpopulation in the United States. Whether or not you agree with mystance, your neighbor's stance or your parent's stance is not theissue.
What matters is that you have a stance, and that on Tuesday, youmake it known. Prove to the rest of the nation that collegestudents are not ignorant or complacent. We are proud to be animportant part of this country.
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