And You Call Yourself an American…

By: Elizabeth Bartek
Posted In: Opinion

Dear Fellow Classmates,

You have a power unlike any other. It’s called voting. With just a few minutes of your time every few years, you have the ability to control our government as you see fit. Yet, in the last Presidential election, only 49% of our population turned out at the polls.

Furthermore, there are far too many young Americans who are not registered to vote. As the generation of the future, we need to be more proactive.

Fortunately, registering to vote has become easier and easier over the years. In fact, it’s quite simple. If you are 18 years of age, please visit www.declareyourself.com.

At that web address, you can register to vote from you dorm room, from your apartment or from the library next time your surfin’ the net.

Why Bother?

Why should you register? So you can vote. Why should you vote? Because you can! As Americans, we are granted a freedom that many people all over the world are not. Many people feel that their one vote doesn’t count but that’s not true.

As American’s, we all need to head to the polls. When you fail to vote, you’re letting someone else make a very important decision for you. The United States is your country and as a citizen, you have every right to determine what kind of leaders will make the important decisions that affect you.

If as a generation, we register and we vote, we begin to make a statement. That statement will attract the attention of those running for office and then, those candidates will be more concerned with issues relating to our generation. And that’s how we can get things done!

If you want things to change, you have to make the effort. Voting can make those changes happen.

As the Presidential elections creep up on us yet again, I urge you to register soon so that you can vote in November. In the mean time, get to know the candidates and their positions on the issues that you care about. Watch them yell at each other during the debates. Watch Jay Leno and David Letterman make fun of them!

One of those candidates is going to be running the United States of America- your country! Make an informed decision and head to the polls. Voting is not just an obligation to your country, but to yourself. Be proud to be an American and show it- VOTE!

“Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual–or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.”
-Samuel Adams, in the Boston Gazette on April 16, 1781