Your vote is your voice

An informal Campus Times poll this month found that only two of 22 students surveyed on the University of La Verne campus voted in the recent California primary election.

Even more troubling, however, is a national study, which found that voting among people ages 18 to 25 has dramatically decreased over the years.

This should be a wake-up call to constituents and politicians alike.

Is it that not enough of the issues at hand are pertinent to young people?

This is arguably not the case – particularly in this month’s election in California.

The the impact from propositions on the ballot will be felt for decades.

Yes, the issues do affect us.

However, even if it is difficult to look beyond today and take interest in the policy decisions that the local, state and national government asks for our opinion on, there is always someone we know being affected by the state budget crisis and public school system, to name two issues focused on in the March primaries.

Proposition 57 and 58 passed without much input from young voters.

That’s a double-edged sword for us.

With the budget package comes a proposed cut to Cal Grants, which directly affects many students attending ULV and other colleges, especially public universities.

Proposition 57 and 58 will restore some of the proposed cuts to Cal Grant, but because the Measures evoke a $15 million bond, we will be paying for it later.

Young voter turnout in California and other states declined in the primaries but slightly increased in states like Massachussetts and New Hampshire, according to the Youth Voter Coaltion.

Decisions affect the very fields we are studying as majors.

For example, liberal studies students will want to know what presidential candidates think about No Child Left Behind, since that mandate is determining what teaching positions look like for new teachers.

In the 2000 presidential election, 42 percent of registered voters ages 18 to 24 voted, while 70 percent of registered voters 25 and older cast ballots, according to the Youth Vote Coalition.

This year only 9.85 percent of those registered in the 18- to 24-year-old age group voted in the Democratic primary this year.

Learning about and participating in our system of government is an investment in the future we can always pick up and use and hope to get something out of in return.

Students have expressed that they lack knowledge of current events and issues to take part in the voting process.

If this is the case, then you need to educate yourself. Turn on a public radio station on your commute to and from campus.

Listen to music another time.

Develop dialogue with that person in your class who always seems so outspoken about politics.

Get to know who’s who in politics and what their proposed plans are for the country and our relationship with other countries.

Find ways to immerse yourself in these issues – just enough and you will be surprised how much more prepared you are than a majority of those who actually do head to the polls on election day.

It might be difficult for people our age to believe their votes count.

But they do and as we move from college to our chosen professions, the decisions being made by voters will affect us increasingly.