Undecided if voting in your Municipal Election is worth the effort? As a member of Generation Y, let me tell you why we young people who are members of Generation Y need to get ourselves to the ballot box. We live in a democracy and that means that we get a say in who runs your city, and because of this privilege we also get a say about how your city is run. It is very easy to be carefree about your right to vote and take a devil-may-care attitude but you shouldn't brush this great honour off so quickly.

Why We’re Not Taken Seriously

Ever notice that during an election, “older folk” get all the attention? Local politicians spend lots of time making promises about issues that affect the elderly. Foolishly, this doesn't make sense to me. After all, we, young people, are going to be around longer, right? Wouldn't it be more worth their while to earn a young following?

Well here’s the thing: politicians pay attention to the elderly because they vote. Statistically, elderly people are far more likely to take the time to vote than younger people. So, politicians tend to pay more attention to older people.

The only way for this to change is for young people to vote. The more that politicians see that young people can really make a difference, the more they will pay attention to youth needs – like student loan legislation, tuition hikes, entry level job creation, education cuts, and health care issues that affect young people.

About Time to Prove Them Wrong

We young people have a reputation for being uninterested, and this is especially true for Generation Y (if you’re born between 1977 and 1997). The label about Generation Y is that unlike our parents, who participated in the social change movements in the 1960s and 1970s, Generation Y doesn't care about anything in the outside world.

Many buy into this label or typecast. They talk about how it was when the Baby Boomer were students, and how they were involved in protests and in campus politics. And that youth today are too busy with Facebook, video games, partying, and other distractions

I want to prove these haters wrong? Now a day’s there are so many places to learn more about social and political issues, and to get involved in political activism. There’s a simple way to prove them wrong: VOTE!

If You Don’t Vote, You Can’t Complain

If you don't vote you really have no right to complain about the decisions that you don't like, no matter how much they actually stink. If there is one thing that is really irritating to me as an actual voter it is the endless ramblings of my peers or colleagues on the bad policy of a current council spewing from the mouths of entitled voters who never worried to cast a ballot.

If you don't vote it is like saying you don't care how your city is run, so if you don't care where do you get the right to complain when something happens that you don't like? If you don't vote you really have no right complaining about anything your city council does.

If you’re like most young people, you like complaining and have it down pat. Do you want the right to complain when the powers that be make a truly horrible decision? Then you must exercise your right to vote.

We Have a Future

Older voters have a vested interest in building a better world for their children and grandchildren. But should this really be left up to the older voters?

As younger voters we need to vote with our futures in mind. Decisions that are being made today about the environment, health care, jobs, education, deficit spending, infrastructure, military conflicts, civil rights, and foreign relations will impact us young people more than anyone else. These decisions are too important to be made be made by people who (soon!) won’t be around.

Your vote matters! The only way to show politicians that our concerns are worth their time, and the only way to show the non-believers that Generation Y defies our label– is to VOTE. Take some time to learn about the issues and candidates, and cast a ballot, we as a whole, can determine who will serve as the city's Mayor, City Council and School Board Trustees for the next four years please our future depends on it!

By Brian