OpinionsEditorials

Get out and vote, it’s your responsibility

Throughout America’s relatively short history certain groups have had to fight for their right to vote. Less than a century ago, women were not allowed to have their voices heard in government elections and decision making, and racial minorities faced unfair and discriminatory practices that barred their votes from reaching ballot boxes.

It wasn’t until the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 that the systemic barriers like literacy tests and poll taxes, which had been in place in primarily African American regions, were finally eliminated.

The history of suffrage and the desire to have one’s political voice heard seems to have been forgotten as low voter turnouts plague elections.

According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning And Engagements, or CIRCLE, the 2016 presidential election saw only 50 percent of eligible 18- to 29-year-olds cast a ballot.

About 48 million 18- to 29-year-olds turned their backs on their civic duty. They gave away their opportunity to have their voices heard in one of the most heated and divisive elections the United States has ever seen.

America is a democracy and as such it can only survive through the will and the votes of the people. When half of an entire demographic fails to stand up for their thoughts, opinions and beliefs, they are willfully handing off their voice and institutional power.

The CIRCLE foundation found that when 18-29 year olds were registered to vote, they were highly likely to actually cast a ballot on election night. During the 2008 election, 84 percent of young people who were registered actually came to vote.

With the overwhelming research showing that the more young people register to vote, the more they will actually show up on election day, it seems that the best way to encourage people to vote is showing how easy the process is.

California has one of the most streamlined and simple voter registrations according to an analysis done by Bloomberg Politics.

In California residents can register to vote up to 15 days before the election. Residents who register with fewer than the 15 days can register conditionally.

California is one of the few states in the union in which residents may register to vote and show up to vote without any identification. Upon registration to vote those without government issued identification are given unique voter identification numbers that will be used to verify them at their polling place.

California voters can register online at RegisterToVote.ca.gov.

Also a complete list of candidates for the Nov. 6 general election can be found at www.sos.ca.gov/elections/upcoming-elections.

Prospective voters who prefer to register through a paper application have a variety of options including printing the national mail voter registration form from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission website, picking up a registration form up at their local DMV office or county elections office.

Request an application be sent to them by calling the voter hotline at 800-345-8683. Those who hope to vote in California’s Nov. 6 general election should register by Oct. 22.

As California residents there is no excuse to not participate in our democratic process. The number of people who turned out last election was not something we should be proud of, or repeat.

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Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.

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