The Nov. 6 midterm election is coming up soon and every vote counts. Sadly, on the national scale, students are historically unlikely to vote. Only 18 percent of college students voted in the 2014 midterm according to data collected by Tufts University. Assuming a similar rate of voting this year, how do the students at Colorado Mesa University compare to the average?
If the results of the students questioned are any indication of CMU as a whole, Mavericks care more about being involved in the political climate than the national average.
Though I was unable to question every student attending CMU, I was able to take a sample size of 20 students who were willing to weigh in on whether or not they planned to vote in the midterm. There is a lot of room for error because it’s less than one percent of the total student body.
Of the students weighing in, 12 planned to vote, four didn’t plan to vote, one couldn’t vote and three were undecided. That means 60 percent of the sample students said they will participate in the midterm election; much higher than the 18 percent nationally from the 2014 midterm.
If the timing was better, at least one more person would be voting next month. Freshman Hailey Pratt’s birthday falls at the end of November so she will still be 17 on election day. Otherwise, Pratt would have pushed the number of students voting to 13, making a 65 percent positive response.
“Even though we don’t necessarily count up every single little vote, it is kind of our duty as a citizen,” Pratt said.”Then, if nothing else, you can feel like you tried to do something.”
The recognition of civic duty is something nice to see in Mavericks and it’s great that some freshmen are already coming to CMU with that kind of mindset.
Unfortunately, none of the students who didn’t plan on voting were willing to be quoted. Off the record, they pretty much unanimously voiced the opinion their votes wouldn’t count anyway. It wasn’t as hard to find students willing to voice why voting is important.
“I think it’s a really great opportunity for students and individuals in the community, to vote, because it’s a great way to exercise your constitutional right as an American citizen,” Amara Hobbs, student trustee, said. “It gives you a voice on choosing who you think is going to be the best option. It’s a really great tool, it’s great thing to utilize and I think all students should take up that opportunity.”
If the sample size can be believed as accurately representing CMU students as a whole, the majority of Mavericks agree with Hobbs and Pratt. The realist in me worries the actual percentage of voting students will be lower than the projected 60 percent. The optimist in me still believes CMU students will exceed the national average.
Hobbs and Pratt are correct. Voting is both a civic duty and an opportunity to say the direction you want your county, state and country to go. As the old saying goes, ‘if you don’t vote, you don’t have room to complain.’
There’s something in human nature that drives us toward inaction because we believe somebody else will do the necessary thing. However, when everybody thinks someone else will do it, nobody does. This is the same with politics. If we all think others will vote for the better candidate in an election, the worse candidate is likely to win.
Don’t sit around hoping others will make sure the right outcome happens on Nov. 6. Take charge and go cast your votes. Make sure your voice is heard. Help prove that CMU students care about this country and are willing to take action to prove it.
