The fact that some new voters don’t care or haven’t done a considerable amount of research surrounding candidates in the approaching election has nothing to do with their age. There are just as many adults as there are 18-year-olds who participate in elections and abuse their right to vote. There will always be ignorant voters, regardless of the age range. Besides, the 26th Amendment grants young adults the right to vote, and that right should not be taken for granted.

Having 18-year-olds vote in the upcoming election may in fact be a good thing — the more people vote, the less every vote counts. This may not sound appealing at first, but if everyone who is eligible to vote does vote, it’s ;ess likely that a small group of motivated and extremist voters will influence the outcome.

Another thing worth mentioning is that by avoiding the privilege of voting, young adults are not taking advantage of their rights. In certain other parts of the world, some citizens don’t have the opportunity to vote in their country and would give anything to be able to. Citizens in the U.S., however, have this right, so they should not neglect it. And chances are if feckless teens don’t vote in this election, they probably won’t care enough to vote in the next election. It’s likely, though, that at some point in the distant future, they will be inclined to vote — if only to say they did.  But having grown up apathetic toward politics, such adults will probably not have sufficient understanding of their responsibilities as voters.  Personally, I would be embarrassed if I were a 40-year-old woman who did not know how to properly select a candidate for public office. If negligent 18-year-olds ignore their responsibility as voters, they’re hurting not only themselves but also the country.

If we think about whom the government is going to affect most, it is the new voters. Yes, a change in government will all U.S. citizens, but older citizens inevitably have less of their lives to live — and less time to live under the government’s rule. On the other hand, 18-year-olds have a majority of their lives in front of them. Because of this, it is only smart that younger voters assert themselves in elections .

Young citizens of eligible age must vote in order to have any say in their future. Avoiding the right to vote gives the impression that the future is not of concern — and the future of the U.S. should be of concern to every American citizen.

Voting is a right of all U.S. citizens who are 18 years old or older. Since the 26th Amendment was passed in 1971, this has been the case, but in recent years many citizens have questioned whether teenagers should have the ability to alter our country’s fate.

As the 2020 presidential election approaches, seniors at NASH and all around the country are faced with many questions: Should I vote? Who will I vote for? How do I vote? Do I even know the candidates?

Such questions, however, reveal that most seniors are not fit to vote. But even though you are 18 years old and can legally vote in the 2020 election, if you don’t know what exactly you’re doing, I highly recommend that you do not vote.

It is wrong to say all new voters are incapable of taking the task seriously, but there are enough who are not mature enough to handle it.

As a senior in high school, I can confidently tell you that politics is not a number one priority for most 18-year-olds. Most seniors are too busy thinking about the college application process to focus on what is happening in the political sphere, leaving them with little to no information on political candidates. If these seniors take the little information they have and vote based on it, the whole process is unfair to a person who has done extensive research and thought about who they are voting for and why.

This concern can relate to students taking tests in school, too. If a student took a test on a book without reading it and got a good grade, the student who actually read the book will be upset. The student who reads the book did more work than the other student, but got the same results.  It’s both unfair and irresponsible, as the first student would possess only a fraction of the understanding that the second student would have.

If you don’t care about the future state of our country, then shame on you. You do possess the right, but you do not deserve it.   If you don’t care about our country’s future, it’s best to stay out of the decision-making process. There is no need to ruin it for someone else just because you can.