By: Conner Williams Editor-in-Chief
The United States Census Bureau (USCB) defines millennials as people born between 1982 and 2000. As of June 2015, we make up more than one-fourth of the total U.S. population.
Those of us in that group have experienced several periods of technological innovation, including the streamlined accessibility of the Internet, wireless phones, and the creation of social media networking sites that effectively allow people to connect with anyone across the world.
Most millennials that I know, including myself, are constantly plugged in, meaning that they are constantly feeding on all kinds of different information from multiple sources throughout their day. While some among the older generations like to claim that we use technology to waste time and post selfies, we generally crave knowledge and wish to be more informed.
We now outnumber the baby boomer generation by nearly 7.5 million people. It is time for us to make our voices heard, and make a tangible impact on governmental policymaking in the upcoming election.
How do we do this? It’s quite simple: vote.
While this may seem obvious, many eligible millennials did not vote in the 2012 presidential election.
With the ever-increasing availability of technology and information right at our fingertips, why are we still seeing lackluster voter turnout for young people? There are many theories, but this is mine: young people do not feel that they can truly make a difference.
Student debt, an increasingly competitive job market, and other stressors can sometimes make people feel discouraged, like the world is out to get them or that the hole we have dug is too deep to climb out of. It is not uncommon to feel overwhelmed at times, but that is no excuse not to vote.
I’m not writing to try and sway you towards one particular candidate or political party; I simply want people to exercise their right to vote.
Voting is, in the words of the U.S. Census Bureau, “arguably the most important civic opportunity given to citizens in the United States.”
Regardless of whether or not we share similar political beliefs, I want everyone to voice their opinion by casting their vote next year.
Your vote does not mean nothing, it means everything.
Young people now make up one of the largest denominations of people in this country, yet more than half of them dismissed their right to vote in the last election.
That is unacceptable, especially in a state like Oregon where we have the luxury of mail-in ballots, so we should be much higher than the 64 percent turnout that we showed in 2012. Some states still use the medieval-era voting booths, which often result in low voter turnout overall. There is no reason that every person in Oregon should not be voting.
So whomever you support, get out there and cast your vote.
