Did you cast a ballot in the municipal primary elections Sept. 11? Many of you will say no and will have some reason to explain your lack of civic engagement — and yet you will most likely be the very first to complain about government or politics.
On the other hand, some just have that “who cares?” attitude about voting. Those of you who don’t care should take the time to realize the privilege we have to vote and the opportunity we are granted to strengthen our democracy by choosing the leaders in our country.
In the Sept. 11 Salt Lake City primary election, 27,236 votes were cast out of the 94,578 registered voters. This means that 15 percent of the 181,743 Salt Lake citizens make decisions on behalf of the entire city.
The obvious question is, why doesn’t the younger demographic go to the polls during elections? As youth, we take our democracy for granted and often have that “who cares?” attitude. We consistently see many reasons for the lack of youth engagement, but it’s time to shine some light on the issue and, as youth, make an impact.
Each election we see fewer and fewer youth casting their ballots, and they consistently end up as the lowest voting demographic in the country. This is why we often see campaigns investing more and more funds in marketing toward the demographics who are casting their ballots. I am not trying to say that candidates are not targeting the youth, but they are focusing their energy in gaining votes from those who actually come out to the polls. We can change that by simply taking five minutes on election day and casting an educated vote.
The issues around each election often directly affect us as youth. As students in higher education, we need to keep in mind that the next mayor we choose needs to have education — and higher education in particular — as one of his top priorities. The University of Utah is a large part of Salt Lake City and it is vital that the mayor supports the ongoing university efforts. The time we take to get educated about the stances of candidates will help to ensure that we pave a strong path for the future. We must stand together and make sure that our generation participates in our democracy. Your vote counts and will help to ensure that the next generation will have the same opportunities that you have today.
In the past, all political organizations on campus worked on an individual basis to register and educate students prior to casting their ballots. We have changed that this year and we have combined our efforts to bring an initiative called VoteProject to campus. This initiative is a combined effort among all political organizations across campus to help students make an educated vote.
The partners of VoteProject include The Associated Students of the University of Utah government relations board, the Hinckley Institute of Politics, the Hinckley Institute Student Alliance, College Democrats, College Republicans, the Roosevelt Institute, the Marriott Library, Public Interest Advocacy and the OrangeBand Initiative. We have combined our resources to ensure that students make an impact. Over the next few weeks, you will see more and more voter registration drives, candidate forums and a campus-wide effort to ensure students make it out to the polls on November 6th for the general election.
The time you take out of your schedule or the money you spend on gas on election day is a very small price to pay to live in a democracy. On Nov. 6, municipal elections will be taking place across the state of Utah. It’s easy to say that your vote does not count, but the truth is that it does. Your vote alone is not a significant movement; however, your vote combined with others who share the same views on the issues creates a powerful voice. I hope you take the time to get educated about the candidates. Make an impact in electing the leaders of our cities and bring the youth vote out. Get informed, get connected and get started!
Marko Mijic is the ASUU Director of Government Relations.