Photo courtesy of 2022 SLOHS graduate Lily Scurria

  Although many teenagers and students at San Luis Obispo High School tend to value participation in protests and voicing their opinions on heated political topics, teenagers still have the lowest voting rate of all eligible voters.

According to the United States Census Bureau, people aged 18-29 have a voting turnout of between forty to fifty percent, and it’s time for SLOHS students to do their part in raising that statistic. 

  “The Young Democrats club has held voter registration drives. Individual members have also volunteered with the Democratic party and in our community to get people to register. I really try to get the message out there, just getting people aware that they can pre-register is a first step,” said the new Young Democrats club president Izzy Nino de Rivera-Krieger. 

  On campus, efforts to pre-register sixteen and seventeen year olds have not been weak, yet many people still don’t take the few minutes out of their day to do it. 

  The New York Times has three main reasons for why young people vote so infrequently. The first being that it is not yet a habit for young people so they are not accustomed to having to do it. The second reason is opportunity cost; young people are more likely to have busier schedules and less flexibility when it comes to getting out to vote so they just don’t do it. The final reason is alternative participation; activism and protests seem to have taken the place of voting for young people. All of these factors can be remedied, however. 

  “It never really crossed my mind but when I was at the DMV getting my license, I had the opportunity to register so I did. I’m eighteen and I think voting is important because the citizens of a country need to be making informed decisions on significant issues that affect themselves and others,” said 2022 SLOHS graduate Viktor Mejia.

  Newsflash Tigers: voting isn’t something only your parents do anymore, it’s something you are eligible to do very soon, so be prepared to make it a habit. Put a reminder on your phone or mark your calendar for upcoming county, state, and nationwide elections. If desired, go to sos.ca.gov to learn more about receiving absentee ballots to avoid having to make a trip somewhere to vote.

  Finally, if our age group is truly so impassioned on creating change, demonstrations aren’t enough. Don’t claim to be politically active because you went to a protest if you aren’t also going to vote in elections that quite literally change lives. 

  “When I hear people say politics and individual votes don’t matter, it’s not true. Locally, they matter. You supervisors control what happens in your county and the mayor controls what happens in the city and what policies affect public transit and housing,” said Nino de Rivera-Krieger. 

  As the people that have claimed so many times to be a part of the generation that will make a difference, it is our job to follow through with that claim and get out and vote. To all Tigers sixteen and older, please pre-register (or register if eighteen) at registertovote.ca.gov, to ensure that change really does happen. 

Sources: census.gov, nytimes.com, registertovote.ca.gov, sos.ca.gov