What is the similarity between voting, singing, drawing, composing a poem, or even writing a novel? They are all forms of expression. When we sing, or draw, or write a novel we express our experiences, our thoughts, and our feelings. Whereas when we vote, we express our ideologies, our beliefs, and most importantly, our needs. Why is it, then that as young people, we will consider expressing ourselves through singing, dancing, or videos, yet abstain from one of the major expressions that matter most? Voting is one of the few ways we have been given the power to participate in our government in addition to guaranteeing safety, security, and economic stability. Through this speech, I will show you the extent to which our votes have a significant impact on our lives and our futures.
Over the past few years, there has been a great concern regarding the voting trends of one demographic and this is the youth. This is because for the last 3 decades, records indicate that the number of youths that have registered as voters and those that vote is extremely low. According to this graph that was created by Child Trends, a nongovernmental organization that conducts research on the youth and children, less than 50% of the youth actually cast votes for presidential candidates. The year with the highest records of youth voting was 1972 and it has been a downward slope since then, with some years like 1996 recording the lowest turnout. Moreover, the number of the youth that have registered to vote are less than 60%. This is indicative of a major problem that needs addressing and the only way this can be solved is by emphasizing on the importance of voting to the youth.
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First and foremost, the United States of America is considered a democracy, and what is the key element of democracy? Voting is the cornerstone of democracy and through exercising our right to vote, we are participating in a political system that has been established as one of the most successful and safe political systems in the world. In a study by Elizabeth Stein, released in 2016, the researcher established that when a nation reverts from democracy to dictatorship, they have an almost 80% chance of falling into civil conflict and this is accompanied by violence, human rights violations, loss of life and economic instability. However, in a democracy, the leaders have an incentive to maintain peace and quash all forms of civil unrest because they understand that if they fail to quash civil unrest, they may not get another term in power. Therefore, democracy and our right to vote, guarantee our safety, to a great extent.
Finally, as the youth, we have our lives to look forward to and one day, we are bound to take over the reins of leadership. However, what happens if the people in power do not represent your needs? They will devastate the economy and environment, making our lives difficult. when we ascend to power. Through voting, we have the power to weigh our political candidates, identify those that we believe would best represent our interests, and safeguard our future. For example, the Obama campaign was vocal about the need for the government to take all measures to ensure that students are better prepared for the future and this called for a great education system. To achieve this, the administration passed Every Student Succeeds Act which holds our schools accountable for our academic success which is key in preparing us for our lives in the future Through voting, therefore, we get to decide who leads us now, what policies they put in place and this, therefore, means that we have participated in our governance and played a part in safeguarding our future
As I conclude my speech, I would like to reiterate that voting is the only way that we, as civilians, have the privileged of exercising power over the people that govern us. Through voting, we can directly hold our leaders accountable for any misdeeds, thus incentivizing them to constantly act in our interest. Moreover, as the youth, voting ensures that we put forth leaders that will safeguard and promote our future instead of destroying this. For this reason, I believe that our votes have significant impact on our lives today and in future and we should do our best to ensure we exercise this privilege.