What makes a college student vote?
Historically, college-aged Americans are the least active age group when it comes to voting. However, after the recent enormous spike in young voters in the 2018 midterm elections, I was interested in what my peers at my university thought of politics and voting culture in college.
I spoke with four Marquette University sophomores, three of whom have voted in at least one election. Mara McAndrews said her main inspiration to vote is because she considers it her responsibility to exercise her right.
“You have no right to be upset with how things are going if you didn’t vote,” McAndews said.
The urge for political participation can come from more than just the Constitution, though. Social media, while used for humor, aesthetics and sharing one’s life, is also used for education and spreading awareness.
Emma Nissen said social media plays a role in politics for her because she follows candidates to learn more about them.
“Social media is a way for candidates to voice their opinion,” Nissen said. “As much as I want to watch the debates I normally don’t, so social media lets me get information on them easily, and I can discover what they’re campaigning for.”
McAndrews also noted that celebrities use social media to sometimes endorse candidates, but mostly to educate their followers on how and why to register to vote.
“I think social media encourages voting as a whole,” McAndrews said. “It’s pretty partisan. Especially with the recent midterm elections, so many celebrities were telling people to vote but not necessarily who to vote for.”
However, not every student is as affected by social media and other incentives to vote. Patrick Kirby, who has not voted in any elections, said he is disinterested because he has not seen any political issues affect him firsthand. He also admits to being lazy, and said he doesn’t seek out information on politics and candidates and would therefore not know how best to vote.
“I feel like I would be doing a disservice to my country if I voted and voted wrong,” Kirby said.
Kirby does not use social media often, but said that if he did, he wouldn’t use it to actively seek out political discussion. He said he does not see the use of political arguments on Twitter, and is also wary of false information.
“I feel like a lot of the stuff on Twitter is misinformation,” Kirby said. “I prefer to get information from the classroom or stuff I read myself, or formulate my own opinions through my classes.”
Even though Kirby hasn’t been politically active in the past, he said he does plan on voting in the 2020 presidential election, and is inspired to do so because he considers it a civic duty.
“I do want to vote because I feel like it’s a responsibility, especially if you can,” Kirby said. “So if you can you should. I’m just too lazy right now.”
According to The Atlantic, Kirby could be joining 156 million other Americans that are expected to vote in 2020, up from 139 million in 2016.
