Olivia Telecky-
Voter turnout in the US has been increasing in recent years with the past three elections having the highest voter turnout rates in recent history. The Pew Research Center found that the 2018 election had the highest turnout of any midterm election since 1914, with a rate of 49%. The following presidential election had another record-breaking turnout rate of 66%, and the 2022 election, while the lowest turnout of these, had a turnout of 46%- still larger than any midterm election post-1970. More specifically, the voter turnout rate of college students has been increasing in recent years, from 52% in 2016 to 66% in 2020. Along with these increasing numbers begs the question: should students be showing up to the polls?
The traditional argument against voting is that low voter turnout rates show satisfaction with current institutions. After all, if citizens are not persuaded to vote to change things, they must be enjoying the way things are. According to this argument, students shouldn’t be forced to vote if they don’t feel the need to, so any student who is satisfied with their government’s actions should not waste their time at the polls, and instead focus on their studies. Low voter turnout can also create more stability within our society. When there is constant change in who is leading our country, the goals of our government change constantly with it, making it harder to pin down what direction our country is heading in. By this criteria, high student voting rates would be considered a negative.
The negative aspect of not voting is similar to the positive aspect of it- low voter turnout leads to limited change. If students don’t vote, then the issues they want the government to focus on probably won’t be seriously considered. Government policies are tilted towards the people who vote because they are the ones putting representatives in their positions of power. For example, the highest voter turnout rates are among the elderly population and, consequently, most of the US budget is geared towards social security and Medicare – programs designed to help the elderly. If students don’t vote, politicians don’t feel the need to invest in areas that help them, such as minimum wage and student loan debt.
It must also be considered that college students don’t have a lot of experience living in the adult world. Do we really want people who don’t know how taxes work to decide who should get tax cuts? While students are working hard to achieve their education, they have not completed it yet. Some would argue that anyone who hasn’t finished their college education should not vote because they could be misinformed. Students also have an incredibly busy schedule which leaves limited time for researching candidates and their plans. College should come first for students, therefore they shouldn’t waste their time with politics.
In the information age, it is nearly impossible to be completely in the dark about politicians and their positions, so is uninformed voting a real problem? Some would argue that while they haven’t lived in the adult world for very long, college students have enough experience from growing up in the US to form their own political opinions. Many high schools also require classes on government and politics, making students more than capable of being informed voters. While it is still important to research candidates and their plans for office before voting, college students are more than capable of handling this research. Many institutions also do not want students to have to choose between their education and their political duties and offer polling places on campus. At Gustavus, election information has been available around campus for the past month, and election day has an adapted schedule that gives students time to vote.
The biggest thing stopping students from voting in the 2024 election is the candidates. One study by Inside Higher Ed found that the most common reason students listed for not voting was distaste for the candidates. Because students don’t support either candidate, they in turn don’t look out for them. However, as voter turnout has increased among college students, more and more politicians have been forced to listen to student voices on the issues. Hopefully, as students have more of an impact on elections, the candidates will in turn try to positively impact students. Maybe then students will feel positively enough about one candidate to support them with their vote.