A good portion of Spring Hill College come to the Hill from different states and maybe even different countries. In fact, according to SHC's Office of Institutional Research, 56 percent of the college's students are not Alabama residents. This makes it more difficult for us to vote in the state of Alabama and often times this complication makes us not even vote at all. Midterm elections are coming up November 6th which means that all 435 House of Representatives seats, 35 Senate seats, and 39 state and territories governorships will be decided.

     From an article by Richard Fry called “Millennials approach Baby Boomers as America’s largest generation in the electorate,” he states that millennials were actually projected to surpass Baby Boomers in 2017 as the United States’ largest living adult generation. This means that millennials are also closing in on the “Boomers” in their share of the American electorate. Fry also states that, “The Baby Boomer voting-eligible population peaked in size at 73 million in 2004. Since the Boomer electorate is declining in size and the Millennial electorate will continue to grow, mainly through immigration and naturalization, it is only a matter of time before Millennials are the largest generation in the electorate.” It is important to be able to cast your vote, but it is even more important to actually cast one. Based on statistics from the 2016 presidential election, Millennials have voted collectively below their electoral weight, which means they are not voting as much, collectively, as their older counterparts. According to Forbes Magazine, Millennial voting rates have never gone over 50% of the votes. In a National poll of American Millennials, only two-in-ten young adults consider themselves “politically engaged and active.” The problem with our generation’s voting does not depend on our actual willingness to just “go out and vote,” but rather it depends heavily on our values as a generation. According to Forbes, “millennials are moved by measures championing persona choice-not society, country or planet. Only half of millennials see themselves as patriotic, and just 19% see themselves as generally trusting of others, compared to 40% of baby boomers.” The millennial generation seems to be far more individualistic than past generations. Due to this fact, our nation has the potential to become more tolerant as well as giving us an opportunity to advance the American dream in a way our nation has never seen.

     At the end of the day, U.S. citizens choose to vote or not to vote. However, the right to vote is extremely important and one of our most important rights and responsibilities that we have. Voting allows U.S. citizens to tell their government what they want to do. If an individual sees a major flaw in the United States, then they can vote to place a person in power who can fix the problems they see and progress our country in a positive direction, fulfilling the “American Dream” that our generation has. Personally, I have talked to many of my friends who do not vote who have said “Why should I even vote? My vote does not even seem to count.” It may be easy to think this way, but there are several U.S. elections that have been won and lost by just a few votes. For example, Richard Nixon, not John F. Kennedy, would have become president of the United States in 1960 if one person from each voting place had voted differently. Texas might not have even become part of the United States in 1845 if one U.S. Senator had voted differently. The vote in the United States Senate was 27-25 and if it would have been a tie Texas would not have been part of the United States.

     Voting is important and gives us power even when we think we don’t have it. Voting can fulfill our millennial vision of what the new and improved America could be. We have the power to do what we want with our country. As I previously mentioned, 56 percent of Spring Hill students are not permanent Alabama residents. Absentee voting is an important tool that students from out of state can use to cast their vote for the upcoming election. Absentee voting allows you to vote by mail and this can be done by casting your ballot during your designated early voting period. It is extremely simple and allows you to cast your vote for the America you want.