By Henry, 18, Seattle, Washington
Personally, registering to vote was a breeze. It happened one day in the middle of physics class this past year. In the span of 15 minutes, an old guy came in, explained why he was there, and had all eligible voters fill out a voter registration form which he would later mail in. I was fortunate enough to go to a school where voting is emphasized, unlike many other schools in the country. However, here at 31st State, we believe voting is the most important civic duty and that is why part of my internship here has been researching how to register to vote in every US state. Sometimes it feels repetitive looking at every state’s voting website but I am constantly reminded of my experience registering. I had a very easy go of it and the ability to create something that would allow others to replicate my experience is something that motivates me greatly.
But why vote? Voting had always seemed blatantly important to me but I had never reflected upon the question why or why others don’t think this way. Mainly, I love voting because it allows us all to have a say. It seems so abstract but the fact that two hundred and fifty so years ago some wig-wearing dudes decided we would be better off letting everyone pick our leader than putting a high-status family back in charge is pretty revolutionary. They chose to take America, a metaphorical high powered sports car, and gave every single one of us a set of keys. And the results have been awesome. Over the years, people have used their vote to make society a better place for all, including women, people of color, and the impoverished.
This is not to say we are a perfect society, we are far from it, but now more than ever we get to change that. The We I am talking about is Gen-Z. Gen-Z is considerate, compassionate, well thought out, and competitive. Together we make up nearly 20% of eligible voters this November. So I say, go out, register and let Gen-Z’s voice be heard. It's not only a right, it's our duty as Americans.