Apathy kills democracy.
You already know that you should vote and that this is a historic election so reiterating that probably won’t spur you into action. For those of you who already voted, we commend you. And for those of you who haven’t voted yet, we want to speak directly to you.
The outcome of a presidential election doesn’t have a four-year expiration date. The results will affect the next several decades.
One of President Trump’s enduring legacies will be the number of judges he appointed during his term. According to an Oct. 5 article by Ballotpedia News, a nonprofit and nonpartisan political encyclopedia, as of Oct. 1, Trump had appointed 218 Article III federal judges.
Article III judges have life-term appointments and make up the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. court of appeals, U.S. district courts and the Court of International Trade.
According to a June 30 article by The Hill, a political news website, the average age of Trump’s appointees at the time they were appointed is 48 years old. Most are conservative, white and male.
The average life expectancy for a male in North America is 77 years according to a Oct. 6 article published by Statista, a German market and consumer data company. This means most of the judges Trump appointed are expected to rule on cases for about the next 30 years.
If you want a say in what your life will look like for the next 30 years and beyond, vote now and elect presidential candidates who share your vision.
Young people seem to be the most energized when discussing the America they want to see.
For many millennial and Gen Z students, social media has become a hub where they can be critical of politicians, laws they disagree with and social injustices. But if you complain about the way things are and don’t vote, you are facilitating the problem.
According to a 2016 study by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, a “rise in other forms of citizen activism, such as mass protests, occupy movements and increased use of social media as a new platform of political engagement.”
However, while protesting is a powerful tool to advance social change, it doesn’t have the same effect as voting because it falls outside the lines of government.
Instead, put your energy where it has the most effect. Make sure to vote and then you can complain all you want when your candidate doesn’t win.
Maybe you haven’t voted yet because you don’t think politics affects your life. But the truth is, everything is political.
Clean drinking water, paved roads and federally-tested medication are all the result of policies created by elected members of government.
Many SJSU students are concerned about repaying student loans, the ability to get a job after college and being able to afford an apartment in the Bay Area. All of these things are affected by politics. If you don’t vote, then these decisions are being made without you.
But don’t just vote for a presidential candidate. Vote for state and local government officials who help decide where resources should be allocated in our communities.
Do you rely on public transportation but don’t have a bus line near you? Voting in a local election could extend bus routes to your area. Are you having a hard time finding affordable housing? You can vote to expand affordable housing in your community.
Local and state governments also have more of an impact on people’s day-to-day lives than the national government.
Libraries, schools and parking tickets all fall under the purview of state and local governments. And state laws often override national laws, like the legalization of marijuana in California, which passed in 2016 according to the California Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training website.
The importance of voting in local elections can’t be understated.
After Louisville, Kentucky police killed Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician, while executing a no-knock warrant on March 13, community members turned toward their local, elected officials to make things right.
Subsequently, the members of the Louisville, Kentucky metro council passed “Breonna’s Law,” which bans no-knock warrants, regulates how search warrants are carried out and mandates body cameras during searches, according to a
June 11 CNN article.
Local officials make a difference in your community and you can influence who is elected to respond to social movements like the Breonna Taylor protests.
But historically, voter turnout in local elections has been low.
According to an article by the National Civic League, a non-partisan non-profit organization that encourages civic engagement, only 15-27% of eligible voters in the U.S. cast their ballot in local elections.
The same article stated the median age of local election voters is in the 60s and white people vote at a rate 20% higher than non-white people in local elections.
When people don’t vote in local elections, their ideas and views aren’t represented, minorities are further marginalized and each vote becomes statistically more significant.
As a San Jose State student, you are also affected by local laws and measures.
According to an Oct. 6 San Jose Spotlight article, San Jose City Council voted to add more protected bike lanes that would connect east and west San Jose with downtown.
The effort, called Better Bike Plan 2025, would add protections to 253 miles of existing bike lanes, create 104 miles of new bike lanes and add 102 miles of bike boulevards, which are paths away from cars for bicyclists and pedestrians to use.
So don’t just vote in big, presidential elections. Vote in smaller, local elections too.
Governments are maintained through elections. But in the past, young voters have had the lowest turnout rates among all voting blocs. According to a 2017 U.S. Census Bureau report, only 39% of voters ages 18-24 cast their ballots in the 2016 election compared to 68% of voters ages 65 and up.
If a country is running well and people are generally happy, it’s because people elected competent government officials. So don’t fall into a false sense of security. Things can change drastically in the space of one election.
If you haven’t voted because you don’t like the candidates running or because you don’t think the candidates take your concerns seriously, you should still vote for whichever candidate from whichever party you like most.
Sometimes you need to vote for the candidate you can get now so they can pave the way for the candidate you want in the future. Maybe the type of candidate you want hasn’t stepped up yet. This should be an incentive to get involved in politics and find the candidate you want to lead.
If you’re worried about voting because of the pandemic, you can always mail in your ballot or take it to a drop box, which minimizes your contact with others. The pandemic makes it even more important to vote this year because voting for the next president can help decide how the pandemic is handled going forward.
And not voting because you feel like nothing really changes and your vote doesn’t matter anyway won’t solve your disappointment with the political system.
A lot of people feel frustrated because candidates only win the presidency by reaching 270 electoral votes, which makes the number of nationwide votes for a particular candidate, also known as the popular vote, seem unimportant.
The Electoral College, which gives electoral votes to each state based on its population, doesn’t nullify the importance of individual votes.
According to a May 11 National Geographic article, most states have a “winner-take-all” system. This means whichever candidate wins the state’s popular vote also wins all the state’s electoral votes.
So if you and enough others vote for the same candidate and help that candidate win the state’s popular vote, then you’ll also be helping them win the state’s electoral votes – which can help them win the presidency.
Young voters are already surpassing voter turnout expectations when it comes to early voting.
According to a Politico article published Monday, young voters in Texas have cast two-thirds as many early votes as they did in 2016.
In states such as Michigan, Maine, Minnesota, Florida, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, “early votes by young voters have exceeded the 2016 margin of victory in each state — meaning young voters could theoretically be the deciding factor.”
Additionally, about 64% of voters under the age of 30 who have cast ballots early didn’t vote in 2016, according to the Politico article.
You also shouldn’t get out of voting by relying on others to vote for the same candidates and propositions you want.
In the 2000 presidential election between Al Gore and George W. Bush, Gore lost to Bush by 537 votes in Florida, according to a Nov. 12, 2018 NPR article. In an election where six million people voted, the winner was decided by a few hundred votes. So never doubt that your vote counts.
Don’t let this election pass by without voting. You have the chance to build the nation and community you want.
