Whether it’s deciding the next president of the United States of America, or deciding who should be Paso Robles’ next members of city council, elections are a fundamental part of the United State’s government. The right to vote gives citizens of the United States the ability to implement change and decide who enters power. Despite this, the Center For Information & Research Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), estimated based on Voter Files that 47% of young people that were eligible, voted in the 2024. This number is far less in local elections with an 18% participation rate for eligible voters aged 18-34 (768 out of 4,458). Why is the participation rate so low? Government and AP US History teacher Seth Draine commented, “One of the biggest reasons people don’t vote, regardless of age, is that they don’t really feel inspired or care about either the people who are running or the issues that they’re running on.”.
While students may believe that their contributions are may have be insignificant, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Paso Robles City Councilmen Fred Strong stated when asked if students should participate, “Absolutely. I was one of them who fought for that [The 26th Amendment]. In fact, I was, I was one of the poster children for getting the 18-year-old vote, I was one of the examples that they used in order to convince people that, yeah, young people can know enough to do a good job voting.”. Councilwomen Kris Beal explained the benefit of young voters’ participation, “I think the interests and needs of younger people are different from than the interests and needs of older people. And so for that to be represented, younger people need to express their wishes, their priorities, their values, and they can do that through their vote.”
The world of politics is confusing and hard to understand from face value. Between news outlets that tell you one side is wrong, and social media posts that tell you one side is right, which is the right one to believe. This divided and hectic environment can be discouraging to first-time voters. Critical thinking skills can help you study and analyze facts from different sources to discern what is factual. Entering the vote doesn’t require much effort. Students at PRHS can pre-register to enter the ballot as soon as they become elligible to vote. Forms to pre-register can be found in the school’s library and in government classrooms. Fill out the form and turn in the form at your local post office, library, DMV, and government offices.
