THIS IS US TELLING YOU TO VOTE

Without necessarily entering the political conversation, Blog would like to gently remind you to VOTE in this season’s Democratic primary. And, to VOTE AGAIN in the general election in November. If you don’t read the rest of this article, please at least visit the Swearer Center’s breakdown of ALL the primary deadlines across the country. You can also click here to register.

Why do you need to vote?? Let us hit you with some stats:

In 1970, the 16th Amendment reduced the voting age from 21 to 18. Nixon’s White House made this decision in part to address the “old enough to fight, old enough to die” slogan, which spoke to the discrepancy in responsibilities given to young people. The 26th Amendment added 11 million potential voters -- half of these voters cast their ballot in the 1972 election.

Let's look ahead a bit: According to the US Census Bureau, voter turnout among 18-29 year-olds increased by 16% from 2014-2018. This 16 percentage point increase is also the same as a 79% jump; if any Econ major can explain this, feedback is welcome.

Ok, exciting, right? Things are looking up! In 2018, 50.4% of eligible voters showed up to vote in the midterms, as compared to 36.7% in 2014 midterms. In 2012, voter turnout for the general election was 58.6%, and in 2016 it was 60.1%. But we, the "young people," can do better. Voting is more complicated than just casting a ballot, and individual votes are not always weighed equally.

From 2014 to 2017, Fortune 100 companies spent about $2 billion lobbying for favorable policy outcomes in Washington, D.C. That’s a lot of money! If this funding was spent entirely to convince the 535 voting U.S. House and Senate members, it would break down to a little under $4 million per politician. This much money can buy quite a bit of time and attention for corporate lobbyists and other special interest groups. Rhode Island’s very own Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) has publicly condemned this practice, highlighting how corporations' political spending allows them “to rig our government in special interests’ favor.” 

So basically, money buys votes. Great.

But if we don't have $2 billion to spend, how are we supposed to get our elected officials' to pay attention to us? In all honesty, this is a valid concern. Some of our current politicians are so deeply controlled by their donors that they neglect their constituents’ needs to protect their donors and themselves.

THIS IS WHY YOU NEED TO VOTE. This is why you need to bring your friends to the polls. We may not have billions of dollars to throw at politicians, but we have another kind of numbers. There are quite a lot of us "young voters" and we have quite a lot of opinions. We can do better than 36% (lookin' at you 2018).

We are privileged to be citizens with the right to vote. We are a part of a democracy, however broken and corrupt it may be. It is important to vote simply because we can. By voting, we are holding hold politicians accountable for their actions. If we decide they are too beholden to something else (cash money), we can elect new people into office who will represent us and fight to protect our interests. We can at least try.

Here are links to several important voting-related sites:

Registration Deadlines → Once again, this is the Swearer Center’s breakdown of primary deadlines across the U.S. 

Voter Registration → This link will help you register to vote!

Absentee Ballot → This link will help you request an absentee ballot!