It’s no secret young people tend to shy away from voting.
It’s no secret young people tend to shy away from voting.
And this Election Day, extraordinary though the campaign season is, likely will be no different. The Public Policy Institute of California estimates Americans ages 18-34 will make up only 17 percent of likely voters in November.
Those are the same millennials who flocked to former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and his “political revolution.” Now that he dropped out of the race, many of his more ardent supporters vowed to skip the polls in November, even though the senator from Vermont endorsed Hillary Clinton earlier this week.
Sanders might not be in the race anymore, but there are plenty of reasons to turn out at the polls. Here are five:
STUDENT DEBT
Sanders ignited his revolution with promises to help a generation of young people and their families who are drowning in debt from skyrocketing tuition and fees.
Clinton wisely released a proposal that would forgive loans for at least 25 million borrowers. She also promised to make in-state public colleges and universities tuition free by 2021 for families making less than $125,000 a year.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Millennials care about the health of a world they have to live in long after most baby boomers are gone. One of the most effective means of ensuring that is to elect leaders who will implement policies to combat climate change.
By taking the simple step of voting for candidates at all levels of government who will make the environment a priority, the country can continue down the path laid out by President Barack Obama to cut carbon emissions.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
This one might not be as obvious. For those who study abroad or enjoy traveling, the nation’s position on foreign affairs is vitally important to its relationships with other countries.
Millennials are globally engaged, understanding completely that the world is indeed flat. For this reason, it’s important to vote for leaders who represent those values.
U.S. SUPREME COURT
The next president will decide who is appointed to fill the vacancy left by the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court. Critically important decisions hang in the balance.
Among them, laws that ensure the hard-fought rights of women and gays and lesbians remain intact. Campaign finance laws, another hot-button issue for Sanders and his young supporters, could to come before the court again. Vote for someone who will take you into consideration when nominating the next justice.
A VOICE IN SOCIETY
This year, more than in many years, there’s talk of how voting doesn’t make a difference. The system is “rigged,” some say. But millennials make up about 32 percent of the U.S. population, up there with baby boomers for the biggest group eligible to vote. It was the youngest of Americans, through their support for Sanders, who got the Democratic Party and its presumptive nominee to consider a far more progressive agenda than planned.
No matter which candidates you support, your vote matters. Remember that come November.
— The Sacramento Bee