Columns
VALDETARO | Let 16-Year-Olds Vote (A Little Bit)
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After spending several hours in The Sun’s newsroom writing for the election special edition, I got home at 2:00 a.m. on election night only for both of my roommates to confirm that neither of them had voted, even after we had discussed it numerous times throughout the semester. Although not a scientific survey, when combined with the multiple people in my orchestra who told me both before and after the election that they either weren’t planning to or didn’t vote, I now better understand a scientific Harvard Institute of Politics survey in which only 40 percent, or two in five, people aged 18-29 years old said they were likely to vote. I don’t solely blame my roommates or fellow orchestra members for not voting, though. Despite the best efforts of groups that did voter registration, chalked on Ho Plaza and arranged free rides to the polls for students, voting from college is a difficult process. Additionally, college is the first time that many students are eligible to cast a ballot, meaning that voting in any capacity is an unfamiliar act.