A fair democracy means we must all vote. Consider this your call to action

America, we have a problem: not enough young people vote.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 36% of eligible Americans ages 18-29 voted in the 2018 midterms. As the Connecticut primary and general elections quickly approach us, it becomes more important than ever that our citizens are registered to vote. Furthermore, once we register, we need to ensure that we actually go out to the polls and vote. We cannot have a fair democracy if Americans are not voting.

This summer I have been interning with a nonprofit organization known as the Student PIRGs. We have been working to promote our campaign, the New Voters Project, which is the oldest and largest nonpartisan youth program registration effort in the country. We work to increase voter turnout because we believe that through voting, we are given a voice, and we must use it. Youth votes are particularly important because we are the generation who will take on America’s problems, and we need to vote for representatives who care about the same issues that we do.

Young people, this is a call to action. Our voices matter just as much as anyone else’s, and it’s time we make ourselves heard. If we want to make a change towards the issues we care about, the answer is clear: we need to not only register to vote but also go out to the polls this fall.

Olivia Ortegon, Willimantic