Today the RedEye, a paper affiliated with the Chicago Tribune, ran an opinion piece from one of their writers today titled “I’ve Never Voted, Here’s Why.” The author of the piece, Rianne Cole, is a 24-year old Chicago Transplant who has never voted, seemingly because she cannot be bothered to go to Google and punch in “Voter Registration Illinois.”
She points out that she’s hardly alone in this matter, and that nearly 55% of people age 18-24 did not vote in the 2012 Presidential election, a number that was likely even lower in the 2014 gubernatorial election that saw just 19% of registered voters turnout to the polls (which means likely single digit turnout for the 18-24 bloc).
Back in 2012, Cole points out that she was just an undergrad at Loyola, unsure about how or whether to register back home in Michigan or in here part-time home in Chicago. She didn’t want to “jump through hoops” here in Illinois and it seemed like “too much of a hassle” to register in Michigan. So she just never registered. She also wasn’t sure where her vote would be counted (the answer, of course, is Illinois if you’re registered there, and Michigan if you’re registered there. I would hope that was straightforward, but apparently it is not). Continue reading
Nathan Is Write 