Getting our generation to vote is a major problem today and it is becoming a larger problem with each generation that nears the voting age, with less and less of that generation getting out there and not only registering to vote, but voting on Election Day -- the day that makes it count, where one voice is heard among many.
Getting our generation to vote is a major problem today and it is becoming a larger problem with each generation that nears the voting age, with less and less of that generation getting out there and not only registering to vote, but voting on Election Day -- the day that makes it count, where one voice is heard among many. There are problems that our young voting generation faces with not going to vote. It's not a problem that makes us wrong; it's a problem with getting our voices heard that flows with our own lifestyles. Our generation cares; however, it's the archaic method that we still use to capture the vote that limits the younger voting generation's voice -- we are becoming the silent generation not because we're mute, but because the society that wants us to vote has lost touch with how our generation shares its own voice. Although it presents itself as a problem -- getting our generation out there to vote -- there is a solution.
Why are we still voting with an archaic method of "going to the polls" that has been used since the colonial period? We're a generation of technology and advancement; we live in a country that supports technological growth. Our world has become more technologically advanced too.
We saw this advancement when we changed how we ordered products, from back in the 1700s going to the store, to the 1900s calling in our order on the phone, to the 2000s by placing the order over the Internet on our personal computer or Blackberry. However, this same advancement is not seen in how we vote.
The method to the madness remains the same: qualified voting citizens must travel to their voting destination during just one day and must wait in line to cast their ballot for their voice to be heard. Mistakes are made in this process; remember Florida in 2000? Our generation is so busy and consumed with just "life" itself that we are so efficient with speed in taking on tasks. Looking at voting and the cumbersome process that a person must undertake out of their day to cast their ballot, our generation knows that it's just not worth it.
Time is of the essence. We are a generation of multitaskers: We eat breakfast while on the BT, we IM to let our friends know we are attending that great party in Foxridge this Friday night, and we Facebook and MySpace on our cell phone just to see if our friend finally went ahead and changed his relationship status from single to "in a relationship." We know that it is not official unless it is up on Facebook or MySpace.
Has politics looked at a college student's class and life schedules on Election Day? If they did, they would know that we have class on that day and to go to vote in Blacksburg is almost as hard as taking that engineering exam that we studied for 12 hours the night before Election Day and still did not know whether we got problem 24 correct or not. Just that-- look at how much sleep we had the night before studying for that exam; we're lucky to even find where to vote with our sleep-deprived bodies. With absentee voting you have to apply through snail mail.
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