This is it.
Today’s your last chance to reserve your right to complain about our government. It’s your last chance to register as someone who can take part in changing – or preserving – the status quo.
Today is the last day to register to vote before November elections.
If you’re not registered yet, do it today. You have no excuse not to. You have until midnight.
Midterm elections – like this November’s – have notoriously low youth voter participation. In 2002 – the most recent midterm election – only 22 percent of young adults voted. In Arizona, we had the lowest turnout in the nation of young adults, with an embarrassing 14 percent showing up at the polls. This is shameful.
We simply cannot expect our politicians to care about the issues that most affect us when they know we won’t turn out at the polls. And though midterm elections don’t carry the same high profile as presidential elections, they’re still of dire importance.
Even if you feel disenfranchised on the national level, your vote on the local level does make a mark. The men and women we choose to represent us at the state level are the ones who will make and influence the policies affecting how our university is funded and, on some levels, run.
This is worth having a say in.
And even if your candidate doesn’t win, your vote will help send an important message: The voice of young adult voters can’t be ignored anymore. Our generation is committed to involvement and demands to be remembered by those who have been chosen to represent us.
The Associated Students of the University of Arizona has been working hard to get students registered. They visited more than 80 classes and spoke with more than 100 clubs in an attempt to make it easy for students to register. The UA Votes 2006 concert on Friday featured more opportunities to register, along with slew of performers, including The Format, and speeches by those running for several key positions. After Friday’s events, ASUA’s efforts had resulted in more than 2,000 students registering to vote in the upcoming elections. This is great – but still short of the 4,000 student goal.
If you still haven’t registered, time’s not quite up. You have today. There will be voter registration efforts on the UA Mall occurring all day. You can also register online at www.servicearizona.com to use the “”EZ Voter Registration Service”” for those with Arizona driver’s licenses.
Whichever method you chose, just make sure you do it. Today is your last chance.
Don’t let our age group down. We need your vote – educated, informed and registered.
Opinions are determined by the Wildcat opinions board and written by one of its members. They are Nina Conrad, Lori Foley, Ryan Johnson, Ari Lerner, Nicole Santa Cruz and Matt Stone.
