Young voters have a voice
Aaron Bartlett
Is it only the Electoral College’s vote that counts in today’s elections or do citizens have a voice in who is elected?
The presidential election is based not on how many actual votes a candidate gets, but how many electoral votes they get based on the states that the candidate wins.
The first candidate to 270 electoral votes wins the presidency.
According to Brian Dille political science professor at Mesa Community College, citizens do have a say in who is elected when they go out and vote.
“Today, we see that the number of young people are voting is going up but it’s still not as high as it should be,” said Dille.
Some students do not agree with that notion.
“I think that everything the government does is already planned, they just want to give us the feeling that our voice counts,” said Itzi Ramirez a psychology student at MCC.
In the current political world, politicians campaign more heavily on issues that affect older Americans because they have the highest voter turnout of any demographic in the country.
But that does not mean that they are the only ones that matter.
In 2008, then candidate Barack Obama enjoyed a much higher voter turnout rate among younger Americans which helped propel him to the White House.
In this upcoming presidential election, younger voter turnout is expected to be high and could very easily sway the election one way or another.
Although some agree we have a voice, some believe that voice needs to be used more often.
“People have died for us to have the freedom to vote,” said Erin Schaul an education student at Chandler-Gilbert Community College.
