Why young women must vote in 2020

2020 will mark the centennial of women getting the right to vote — and we have a lot to celebrate. According to a Pew Research Study, in 2018, 35.3% of young women voted. This was a significant increase from 2014’s rate of 18.2% and was the highest growth rate by age and sex demographics. This has made an impact in our politics, changing the demographics of government and bringing issues we care about, such as climate change, to the forefront. One hundred seventeen women were elected into office across the country; we now have the most diverse Congress in history with more age, ethnic, gender, LGBTQ, racial, and religious representation. 

But there is still room for improvement. While women tend to vote slightly more than their male peers, young women age 18-24 are still facing low turnout at the polls. The Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University found that women make up less than 30% of elected officials in 2019 at the federal and state level. For women of color, the numbers are lower: They make up only 8.8%. of Congress. 

For our government to be genuinely representative, young women need to vote in 2020. Voting is more than just our civic duty; it is a right. Our political system is based upon the idea of equal representation, but it has systematically withheld the right to vote for many. Voting is powerful and can enact change; it is the most effective way to get our local, state, and federal governments to be responsive to our needs and hold elected officials accountable.

In George Washington’s first election, only 6% of the population, landowning white men, was eligible to vote. The fight for women’s suffrage took decades and was only achieved in 1920. While any advancement in voting rights helps us all, in practice, the 19th amendment only enfranchised white women. African-Americans, while technically enfranchised after the Civil War, faced Jim Crow laws that made it practically impossible to exercise. These restrictions often impacted Hispanics as well. In 1920, Native Americans and Asian-Americans were ineligible for citizenship and the ballot box. Native Americans only became eligible for citizenship in 1924 but faced voting restrictions in the late 1940s. While Asian-Americans were restricted into the early 1950s, the Voting Rights of 1965, helped end racial barriers to voting by deeming tools of voter suppression such as poll taxes and literacy tests illegal. However, today we still face forms of targeted voter suppression from the disenfranchisement of people with felony convictions to restrictive voter ID laws.

It is imperative that those of us who can vote, do. Our voice and votes are so powerful that there are efforts to keep us away from the polls. The rise in youth voter turnout has been coupled with efforts to suppress it, including closing polls sites on or near college campuses and not recognizing student IDs as a valid form of identification. Without a political voice, we will be politically ignored. We cannot expect to be included by a system that has so long excluded us for our various identities. 

To ensure you can vote, read up on your state and county election laws to make sure you meet all the requirements for local, state, and federal elections. Vote and have a direct say on the issues you care about. Vote so that our country can uphold our values of liberty and justice. We all benefit when we all have a say. The voting process is time-consuming, complicated, and confusing, but if we want our legislators to take note of our concerns, we have to vote. Don’t be silenced. We owe it to ourselves, our history, and our future to speak up. Go vote!