By Jennifer Valencia
Everest Editor-in-Chief
On Nov. 6, the midterm elections for the United States will occur. Voters from all around the country will be deciding on pressing issues that matter greatly to each individual state. For some people going to the polling station, it will be their first time voting.
In the Everest community, some students are eligible to vote this year and will be able to put their political opinions into action. This generation of students has the drive and the need to vote for their beliefs.
The topic of voting isn’t something a lot of young adults think about. It’s shown statistically that a very small amount of them go out to vote in every election. Although now there’s a small number of young voters, the number is slowly starting to rise.
When speaking about politics, many have their own beliefs and opinions. In the U.S. government, there is a great division between people. This division allows a lot more people to feel justified in having strong opinions about what’s going on in the country politically.
Everest senior Ethan Ezray is now of legal age to vote in this upcoming November elections. Ezray in the past has been vocal about his opinion on current topics, but only to friends and peers. Now he’s going to voice those opinions at the polls.
When asking Ezray how he decided to vote, he said he wanted to vote when Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton were running in 2016: “I would totally vote for something, but I can’t yet.”
Ezray, regarding his opinion on voting once reaching the legal age, said, “I think it should be their personal opinion. I mean voting is nice, but it’s a privilege not a right … if you force someone to vote and they don’t want to, then they’ll probably just write in Harambe for president or something. Like, just because someone has the right to do something doesn’t mean you have to – like people have the right to privacy.”
The opinion of Ezray is something that is currently seen widely in this country. It’s important to many to vote; but, at the end of the day, it’s up to the person if they want to go through with it.
Another senior at Everest, Jacob Rattner, will be voting in this midterm election. Rattner has a large amount of knowledge about politics and has spoken to his peers previously about current issues.
Rattner said he decided to vote this midterm election because “I’m 18, so my parents were pretty adamant about voting, as well as most of my family.”
Rattner’s family is passionate about their right to vote. Their viewpoint is more progressive considering not all families share the same ideal.
Compared to Ezray, Rattner is also different in the sense that politics are spoken at his home. He explained that his family discussed politics “a lot. My parents and I don’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of policies.”
The tendency of not seeing “eye-to-eye” in politics with parents is something that commonly happens. Historically, the younger generation is more commonly known to agree with newer ideologies and the older generation tends to have the same ideology as before.
The midterm elections are on Nov. 6. Those who would like to vote through the mail must send their ballot 15 days before the election.
If a 16 or 17-year-old wants to vote in the future, they can always pre-register to vote for future elections. Not being eligible to vote in this November election means they might be by the next election. Those eligible can pre-register on this site.
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