While people all over the world like to complain about the state of things, not everyone has the right or the ability to actually do something about it. Here in the US, one of the most important days of the year for the country will occur November 5, the day that lets us put our vote where our mouth is: Election Day. We at The Roosevelt Review want to encourage you to get registered, get informed, and get out there and vote.
Something high school students may not know is that even if they aren’t 18 yet, they can pre-register to vote as early as 16. According to materials from the California Secretary of State, Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., eligible 16 and 17-year-olds are able to pre-register online at RegisterToVote.ca.gov and that registration would automatically become active once they turn 18. You are considered eligible to pre-register if you are a US citizen, resident of California, 16 or 17, not currently serving a state or federal prison term for the conviction of a felony, and not currently found mentally incompetent to vote by a court.
ERHS government teacher, Amanda Meyer explained the benefits of pre-registering.
“It gets all the information out of the way, so at 18 you are ready to go,” Meyer said.
If you are already 18, but missed the October 21 deadline to register by mail or online to vote in the 2024 election, you still have an option. Same day voter registration, or Conditional Voter Registration as it is called in state law, allows Californians to register within 14 days of the election, including on Election Day, at their county elections office, polling place, or voting center.
If you take advantage of Conditional Voter registration, your ballot will be processed and counted once the county elections office has completed the voter registration verification process.
If you aren’t sure where to go, you can visit caearlyvoting.sos.ca.gov to find a list of early voting locations or use the California Secretary of State polling place look up tool to find your polling location for actual Election Day registration.
Registering to vote is only the first step, the next step is getting informed so you know exactly who and what you want to vote for.
Mrs. Meyer shared with us some of the ways to become an informed voter.
“The voter ballot guide is a great place to start for information on propositions and local elections,” Meyer said. “If you belong to a particular party or organization, there are also political party and organization guides. It’s always a good idea to look at who is advocating for what, especially when considering propositions.”
We live in a world where information is constantly available to us through phones, computers, and television. We are bombarded by ads, videos, and social media posts all competing for our attention and the chance to influence us. According to findings from Pew Research Center, “just over half of U.S. adults (54%) say they at least sometimes get news from social media, up slightly compared with the last few years.”
ERHS senior Lucas Bustamante shared his thoughts on why he, as well as many teens, like to get their information from social media sources like TikTok.
“Young people don’t like just sitting and watching [traditional news broadcasts],” Bustamante said. “Short form content is more digestible.”
Another ERHS senior, Chris Romo, spoke to us about some other sources of information. He mentioned news organizations like Fox and CNN, “the big ones” as he called them, but also paying attention to other media, like political ads.
While we at The Roosevelt Review always encourage getting your information from a variety of sources, we do want to caution against misinformation that can so easily be shared today. Always check your sources and information for accuracy and credibility. Common Sense Media has a great list of fact checking tools if you aren’t sure where to start.
Once you’re all registered and have made your choices about who and what you want to support in an election, the last and most important step is to actually go out and cast your ballot, otherwise it’s all for nothing.
ERHS Teacher Librarian, Nadine Loza explained it this way:
“In a democracy, it should be everyone’s duty to vote,” Loza said. “Democracy is an action and we should not take our right to vote for granted.”
And our other interviewees agree.
“It sounds fun, you get to be part of the democratic system,” Bustamante said.
“Everybody should vote,” Romo added. “You’re not going to get what you want if you don’t vote.”
“Young people can make or break elections,” Meyer said. “Voting matters to all… it will all be important to you when you’re not happy, so all people need to make their voices heard.”
