I will vote because of Mr. Weyl, my 6th grade social studies teacher.
I think about that sometimes, when I consider the sorry state of U.S. voter participation, particularly among youth. The upcoming midterm election is an opportunity to hire some new help where help is sorely needed, yet we can expect fewer than half the eligible voters to show up at the polls, if history is any indication.
Why will/won’t you vote, and what do you think would lead to more people voting . . . for you, for your kids, for all of us?
Our founding fathers went to quite some trouble to construct a framework for governing based on the radical idea that our collective voices should rule, not the singular voice of an all-powerful king (or selective voices of a privileged few). Yet sadly, in our taken-for-granted democracy, turnout hovers around 60% in presidential races and just over 40% in off-year elections. This kind of participation is unimpressive, and while it may have worked in the past, it doesn’t meet the democratic demands of our time. In the current context, our half-present effort fails to compete with the influential megaphones of those who have the most money and the most extreme views, those “who can hire armies of lobbyists and lawyers” as Elizabeth Warren likes to say.
Let’s face it. We are flabby and stale when it comes to this most fundamental pillar of democracy.
Even more discouraging are voting rates among youth. Their participation has generally declined over time, falling from just over 50% in 1964 to 38% in 2012. Thirty-eight percent! That’s sad and enormously troubling.
Elections should be about the future, and the future belongs to young people. They have the most at stake from the decisions our representatives are making on issues like planetary warming, war, education, jobs . . . and so much more. Yet they seem to be the least engaged. Why? And what can be done about it?
For one solution, I return to Mr. Weyl.
Mr. Weyl, my 6th grade teacher, was a bit of a renegade. He did a lot of things that would almost certainly get him fired today. He did them out of passion for his beliefs, which he permitted us to know, as part of an overall self-presentation that was transparent and honest, complete with opinions, emotions, and very human flaws. As a result, Mr. Weyl lives vividly in my memory. I recall his rabid love of baseball (encouraging all of us to do as he did, and skip school to attend opening day at Red Wing Stadium, the minor league park in Rochester, New York, where incidentally, I got to see the likes of Boog Powell, Bobby Grich and Brooks Robinson). He was passionately against the Viet Nam War, boldly circulating photos of the My Lai massacre in a kind of silent meditation followed by solemn discussion on the subject. He favored Frazier over Ali, and he was a diehard Democrat. Yes, we knew this too, about Mr. Weyl.
Another thing that got Mr. Weyl’s ire up, was voting. I remember one time when he shared his thoughts on this sacred right. Serious and focused, he drove his message home with penetrating conviction: “Failing to vote is something that, quite frankly — (dramatic pause) — makes me sick . . . to . . . my . . . stomach.” He impressed upon our little impressionable minds that voting was really not an option . . . it was a duty entrusted to us by virtue of our good fortune to have been born into a fully functioning, modern democracy; a privilege not afforded to large swaths of the world’s population.
For me, this worked. Since the 1980 election when I was first eligible to vote, I have been a voting citizen, mainly because I didn’t want to let Mr. Weyl down. Over time, other motivations emerged, not least my desire to set an example for my children. Dragging them to the polls, and sharing a little of Mr. Weyl’s religion became a tradition with me, carried out in hopes that I could influence them as Mr. Weyl had influenced me.
So one solution to our voting problems can be found in a much more active role for teachers, parents and mentors. More robust and intentional teaching of civic responsibility, and more adult passion around the subject, could go a long way toward motivating young people to vote.
Who are the young people whom you could influence? How might we also take this responsibility to our youth, as an opportunity to renew our own motivation to vote more regularly and more thoughtfully?
Democracy doesn’t just happen on its own, like a law of physics. It is formed, fed, and sustained by the intentional acts of humans. I hope we can begin to act differently. Our democracy needs all of us if it is to survive, as our founders intended. Come November, many more voices, especially young voices, need to be heard.
Let me say that more directly: No excuses . . . get out and vote! (And convince a young person you know to do the same)
Resources:
High School Voter Registration Training Manual from the League of Women Voters
Links to online voter registration information:
Stuff I Gotta Say 