Voter Turnout in the 2016 Election

This election season came to an unpredicted and strange close last Tuesday, with the unexpected victory of Donald Trump. This was one of the most unique and controversial elections in American history, and prior to this election, various predictions were made about which voting blocks would carry weight. While there are many notorious voting blocks that have consistently had significant impacts in past elections, the youth vote has typically had low voter turnout. Comprising of voters aged 18-24, the youth vote once again had a low turnout in this election. While there were predictions that the youth voter turnout would still be low, this particular election, and these particular candidates, lead me to believe that the voter turnout may have been greater than it has been in past elections. As I am 18 and registered to vote, I decided to vote because I felt that this election is one of the most strange and powerful elections in American history. I am a little disappointed that this is the first election I was able to vote in, as both of the candidates seemed to have their drawbacks, however, it is still important to vote.

I have asked several other students about their opinions on voting in the upcoming election. For those who are eligible to vote, many have registered and plan to vote in the election. Many have strong opinions about the two candidates, and therefore feel compelled to vote. Whether these students are Clinton or Trump supporters, most feel that if the country were to fall into the hands of the candidate they dislike, the country would be doomed. However, there are still a few who are eligible to vote but are not registered. When asked why they did not register to vote, most either forgot, or didn’t realize that you had to register before a certain date. A few students did not realize that you could register to vote before you turned 18, and accidentally thought that they were not eligible to vote yet. For those who were under 18, most seemed to have a candidate they favored and a desire to vote. One student who is not able to vote in this election said that “it’s our responsibility to choose someone great to lead the country. Even if you don’t like the candidate you can write in someone who you think is a worthy president.” When asked why she would vote the student responded that “if you don’t vote, you are responsible for whoever is elected because you didn’t work towards anyone better.” This seemed to be the general consensus among most of the individuals I asked, as most felt that it was extremely important to vote.

While not all are registered to vote, most individuals appeared to have strong opinions about this particular election, causing me to believe that voter turnout would increase. Unfortunately, the bold qualities of both Clinton and Trump were not powerful enough to cause a surge in voter turn out, as just over half of eligible voters cast a vote in this election.

All credit for the image goes to the artist, Ed Fischer.