Letter: Youth shouldn’t waste blessing of right to vote

As the upcoming presidency election continues, we are greatly informed of the presidential candidates through social media, like Donald Trump, but do young college students really care to vote?

In recent history, young people who range from 18 to 24 have lower voting rates than all the other age groups. Some claim that they are less willing to vote than doing public oaths like community service. A few reasons might be that many young people don’t believe that the government won’t change their immediate lives, or our schooling in middle school and high school doesn’t show much importance, but even if we like the way things are, not voting can change our lifestyles.

As a Running Start student, and soon a full-time college student and voter, I became aware of why voting is important in my American Government class at Columbia Basin College. The less people vote, the more your vote matters. African-Americans and women fought for this right and many more today fight to vote, so this isn’t just a silly tradition but an advantage in many people’s eyes.

As a young voter, I hope that other youths won’t waste this blessing.

This story was originally published March 13, 2016 at 12:38 AM with the headline "Letter: Youth shouldn’t waste blessing of right to vote."