By Leah Sax
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
As you may or may not have known, 36 Senate seats, as well as three proposed statewide referenda, were up for election in last month’s midterm election on Nov. 4.
An informal poll conducted in my global studies classes found that only around two students in each class did vote and were aware of the election. Most students did not know about the election, and some were aware but live out of state and were unsure how to go about voting. A few students explained that they really didn’t know the voting process at all, as they are not political science majors and no one ever taught them how to vote.
Most people our age don’t vote because they do not feel adequately represented or that their vote won’t make a difference. This is not how they should feel.
It is no secret that Hofstra University proudly hosted two past presidential debates, which is why it was especially shocking that not a single flyer, banner or atrium table dedicated to the midterm election could be found on campus. As a college campus, it is Hofstra’s responsibility to help its students become more politically literate and socially responsible.
Hofstra should be teaching students about the importance of voting. Perhaps in the days leading up to the next presidential election, and also the next midterm election, our campus could post fliers and political clubs could set up informational tables in the atrium.
The University could host seminars that explain how to register to vote, where to vote near campus as well as how to apply for and mail in one’s absentee ballot if out of state. It could even show movies and documentaries that stress how our forefathers laid down their lives for our right to vote, focusing on the Revolutionary War and creation of the U.S. Constitution.
Countless students said, “I’m not voting as a form of protest.” But if corruption of the system is what is making students unhappy, then the act of not voting is not a form of protest; it is a form of giving up on our electoral process. An act of protest would be voting despite the corruption, or voting third party if one feels the two party system is failing.
A billionaire can funnel money into campaigns and entice candidates all he or she wants, but at the end of the day, that billionaire is only one person. By abstaining from voting, you give that one big contributor more power than he or she deserves.
Candidates just want to get reelected, and they will bend over backwards for one person’s monetary support for campaigns rather than catering to a group of voters, if the monetary support will yield better results.
True change begins with a vote, and inaction only allows undue influence of the few on the policies of our future.
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