Millennials are projected to surpass baby boomers next year as the largest adult generation in the United States. While millennials have the power to change politics, there’s a problem. We don’t vote.
In the 2016 presidential election, only 51 percent of millennials actually voted, a significantly lower percentage than the baby boomer and silent/greatest generations, whose voter rates were 69 percent and 70 percent, respectively. The voter turnout is even lower during midterm elections: In 2014, only 15 percent of voters ages 18-24 actually voted.
I’ve heard many of my college peers say things like, “I don’t have time to worry about politics.” I’m frustrated by their apathy, but I also understand it. We are the generation that grew up being trained how to hide from active shooters in our schools. The doom of climate change has loomed over us and we have been continually told we are the generation who will need to clean it up. For those of us who want to pursue a higher education, crippling student debt is on the horizon. It’s hard not to feel overwhelmed.
I remember as a child my grandmother telling me the most patriotic thing I could do was vote, and it was not only a right, but a duty. She told me how her mother wasn’t born with the right to vote and expressed disappointment that, despite generations of women fighting for that right, so many people now take it for granted.
Fast forward to Nov. 8, 2016, to the first presidential election I was eligible to vote in. I proudly cast my first vote for the candidate I thought would be the first female president. Instead, as I watched the election results that night, I witnessed the candidate I not only disliked but whose political agenda I feared be declared the president-elect. I felt defeated, grief-stricken and unenthusiastic for the future of politics.
Regardless of whom you voted for, I argue the majority of people find the current political climate unbearable. From Russian collusion allegations to family separation at the border, it’s not a shining moment for the White House. It makes sense that things like “post-Trump stress disorder” have transformed from a colloquial internet joke into a real medical concern. Physicians have reported spikes in anxiety, depression and even calls to suicide hotlines after the election. Between incoherent tweets and news reports so inconsistent the public can hardly keep up, it seems clear why so many millennials have become even more disenchanted with politics and voting in particular.
Due to such low voting rates, millennials can easily be categorized as a politically apathetic generation, but I make the argument they should be stereotyped as a generation of activism. The Women’s March, which followed Trump’s inauguration, was the largest protest in American history. The #MeToo movement followed, and now March for Our Lives, a national campaign organized by high school students, is working toward gun safety and registering young people to vote regardless of party affiliation.
There are 4 million Americans who will turn 18 this year, as well as a large number of 19- to 21-year-olds who have never voted. Voter registration organizations have the potential to affect elections on a massive scale. It is one thing to be registered to vote, but an entirely other thing to show up on Election Day and cast a ballot. A poll from the Public Religion Research Institute and the Atlantic said only 28 percent of young adults ages 18 to 29 say they are “absolutely certain” they’ll vote in midterm elections.
To my fellow millennials: This is not a time to feel defeated, but a time for young voters to engage. Here’s my call to action: Vote. This year, in Utah’s primary elections, there were multiple races that were decided by fewer than 100 votes. The excuse “My vote doesn’t matter” is no longer valid. Millennials are the largest voting bloc in Utah and have the ability to alter elections. Don’t be upset on the sideline, rolls your eyes at tweets or turn off the news because it’s too ridiculous. Instead, realize you have the power to be a participant in the solution.
Natalie Beal
Natalie Beal is a policy and advocacy intern with Alliance for a Better Utah.
