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Volume CXXXII, Number 2 |
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Why do students not vote?
CARA AIMEE TOW
CONTRIBUTOR
In 1998, less than 20% of American citizens ages 18 to 24 voted. Why are young people not going to the polls? Nobody knows for sure, but there are a few theories to explain why college students do not vote. (1) The "I'm too busy" Theory. The first theory is that students have so much on their plate already that they just don't have time to go to the polls. Jay has a 25-page paper due, a soccer game, and an orgo mid-term all on November 5th, also known as Election Day. He's not thinking about anything except how he's going to survive until the one-article-of-clothing campus-wide at Quimby on Friday. (2) The Duh Theory. Another theory is that many students do not know about the issues. They feel like since they cannot make an educated contribution, they just won't make one at all. Most students at Bowdoin are not from the state of Maine or even if they are, they're caught up entirely in the infamous Bowdoin Bubble and have no idea what's going on in the "real world". (3) The Catch-22 theory. Students feel like the candidates who are running are not addressing the issues they care about. Since they are not interested in the issues, they just do not vote. Since students just don't vote, the candidates don't talk about the issues that students care about. It's a vicious repetitive cycle. (4) The Lazy Theory. This theory says that some students are just too lazy to get off their a** to go to the polls on a Tuesday. This can be seen in Bowdoin students when they complain about how much farther Thorne is than Moulton.
There are many important races in Maine this year, including the governor, the US Senate, and the US House of Representatives. Register to vote during the ALL-DAY Voter Registration Drive on Tuesday, September 24th. Keep reading the Orient to stay informed about the candidates or visit http://www.vote-smart.org and http://www.envirocitizen.org. Then get out and VOTE on Tuesday, November 5th.