The ever so exciting 2024 Presidential Election is full steam ahead. With time becoming more and more limited for our runners to convince America they are the right choice. However the big question is why doesn’t the younger generation vote. Statistically they have the lowest percentage of voters in the country. So do they know how to vote or do they have a lack of incentive to vote?

Students generally aren’t well informed about politics or know much about it. Thanks to this there is this environment of disinterest regarding politics. They feel as if they don’t matter in the voting process and won’t have an impact. This is further proven thanks to a study done by Data For Progress. 

“Fifty-three percent of young people believe their vote matters in elections only a little or not at all,” Grace Adcox said.

Seniors could agree on the statement that they feel voting has lost some of it’s meaning. A foundation for democracy crumbling in their eyes.

“My inherent reason for not voting is because I simply believe it doesn’t matter. Our voting system is no longer primarily centered around a popular vote,” Talha Zubayer said.

Students like Zubayer also feel pushed away by the current candidates. They don’t feel a sense of security and instead feel this aura of uncertainty.  There are others that agree with this.

Recently a survey was conducted with 20 respondents who are seniors. One of the questions was asked whether or not they knew how to vote. It was split evenly with 10 saying yes and 10 saying no. While it’s a rather small sample it’s important to ask why these students do not know how to vote. What could we do to help them figure out how to vote?

The website USA.gov is a good tool for students to be informed about the voting process. It gives you the date, qualifications, methods of voting and more. Another website that is useful is Vote.org. This website helps with the registration process in whichever U.S. state.

The survey also asks a couple of interesting questions. What is the perfect candidate in a perfect world and what would they need to do in order for them to have an incentive to vote?

Unsurprisingly, people want candidates that actually support them. People that will do everything to help them and that they will stick to it.

“They would need to truly represent the wishes of their voters. If I knew that a particular candidate would be able to go out there and fix the problems I want solved then I’d feel obligated to go out of my way to vote for them,” says respondent.

The lack of knowledge, incentive and uncertainty are all factors that play a repeating role in why the younger generation has a low voting performance. It’s important to get them to vote because they have so much potential to make change, just a nudge in the right direction will help them move the U.S. forward and propel them.