There is no doubt that college students have the power to make a huge difference in the upcoming election. For example, in 2008 enrolled students made up 39 percent of the youth who voted. On the other hand, there are still many students who will not vote this year – some feel their vote will not make a difference, and others have other reasons why they choose not to.
Loquitur found that not every student who isn’t voting is ignorant of what is going on politically. When the Loquitur staff surveyed college students on who they are voting for or why they are not voting, though some didn’t know why, others had a concrete reason why they were not voting.
One student at Eastern felt she had enough information to decide to vote, but in the end thought her information was filtered and very biased. She was not confident that she was making a correct choice. Although we can never be certain of our choices, she decided not to vote because of her uncertainty.
The fact that a student chooses not to vote with well thought-out response says something.
This has not been an ideal election season. We heard little about key issues like the environment and climate change. Neither candidate asked us to sacrifice. Neither squared with us about what cuts need to be made and how to get the money our country needs for what we want to do.
Despite this, we need to make a decision on our vote. Everyone has the right to choose what he or she believes in, but before making a decision there should be research involved.
We at the Loquitur believe that students should take full advantage of voting this election. Whoever wins, will affect students in one way or another: from student loans, to health care and buying a house after college. Voting is important – but being an informed citizen is crucial. Educate yourself on these important issues. Ultimately life changing decisions will be left up to someone else, whether you believe in them or not.
