Like most people my age, I’ve never been registered to vote. Every time one of those voter-registering do-gooders approaches me at the Norris University Center or on the streets of Evanston and offers to register me, I scream “No!” and run away as quickly as I can.
But unlike most people my age, it’s not because I don’t want to vote or don’t care. In fact, the temptation to register is so strong that I’ve started to avoid those people all together, in the event that, in my coffee-induced haze, I will give in and consequently get arrested for voter fraud.
You see, I fail the first and foremost requirement for voting — I’m not a U.S. citizen, and, unless someone at the Immigration and Naturalization Bureau feels sorry for me, I definitely will not become one in time for this upcoming presidential election.
For someone as politically aware and involved as I am, the frustration is agonizing: To sit and watch this election unfold as a bystander is worse than watching the NU football team. But nothing frustrates me more than talking to people my age, who can vote, but choose not to. Oh, I know what you’re thinking: “This is one of those ‘Go and Vote’ columns.” Damn straight it is.
The most common reason I’ve heard for not voting is that people between the age of 18 and 25 don’t care or think they don’t know enough about politics. Well that’s not a good enough answer. If you’re not going to vote, at least come up with something better than “I don’t care.” Apathy is no excuse — it’s almost as immature as the age-old “the dog ate my homework” line.
It’s strange how I’ve heard so many people complain about this administration, but so many of those same people don’t plan to exercise their right to vote this November.
Even stranger, college students tend to think that election campaigns focus on issues not of interest to our age group. Well the next time you can’t find a job or you’re paying $2.50 for a tank of gas, you might want to think about how that is affected by the government we elect. But it’s true that candidates — both Republican and Democratic — spend very little time courting the student vote on the assumption that the student vote is unreliable. If they hope to truly motivate young voters, presidential candidates should spend a little less time canvassing swing-state votes and a little more time reaching out.
But we students have a responsibility on our side as well. It is a responsibility to get over our faked cynicism and act like the adults we supposedly are.
Students get upset about drinking laws, public urination laws and nuisance laws, but when it comes to the laws that really matter, we suddenly act like we know nothing. Why do we do it? Is it to rebel against the status quo or is just because we think it’s too much trouble?
If your grandmother can vote with her two hip replacements and a cataract partially blinding her, you can surely get your ass to a polling station and punch a card. (Senior citizens vote at one of the highest rates.)
Cook County and the state of Illinois make voting easier than going to class — you can literally roll out of bed in your pajamas and walk a few yards to the nearest polling place to cast your vote. And yet, in the last election, only about 300 people voted at on-campus polls.
It’ll be at least three years before I get to cast my first ballot — I just hope most of you don’t wait that long. Voting isn’t just a right, it’s a privilege and should be treated as one. So put your vote where your whine is. The last day to register in Illinois is October 5.
City editor Malavika Jagannathan is a Medill senior. She can be reached at [email protected].
