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Dunwoody High School students discuss the recent history of youth voter turnout in the U.S. as they ask students why the younger generation's vote is so important.

 

Transcript:

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Jose Iniguez: Democracy in Latin, "dēmos kratos," literally translates to "people power." The power of the people's vote has long been one of the most crucial factors in many forms of government around the world. The history of democracy can be traced back to ancient Greece with the very first democracy taking place in Athens. The United States, on the other hand, uses a representative government where citizens vote on officials to make laws. However, voting hasn't always been available to everyone. Many different groups have not had the right to vote until fairly recently. The 15th Amendment of the Constitution said that the right to vote should not be based on race, but many discriminative laws limit this significantly. Women didn't gain the right to vote until 1920 with the 19th Amendment after years of suffrage protests. The 26th Amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, but even then, young people, although being allowed, have not exercised the right to vote much until the 21st century. In recent years, it has become apparent that we need the vote of young people as well. But in 2022, the national youth voter turnout was 23%, which was lower than 2018, but significantly higher than 2014. We were given a unique chance to interview some students about how they feel about the power of the youth vote.

Unidentified Student: Now I know that my voice will count.

Unidentified Student #2: Young people are important to elections in government nowadays because when they do speak up, they tend to be very active about their opinions, and I feel like that can have a lot of impact in government these days.

Alexandra Evans: Do you plan on voting in the upcoming election?

Unidentified Student #3: Um, yes.

Alexandra Evans: The results of the election come down to the youth vote because young people need to voice their opinions about unique issues that matter to them and important issues that affect them.

Unidentified Student: It will define our future for the next four years — four-plus years.

Alexandra Evans: How do you feel about your students voting in the upcoming election?

Unidentified Teacher: I hope they all do when they're eligible. It's an important election, and it's probably, for most people, it's their first election they're eligible for, and you'll always remember that. So go vote.

Alexandra Evans: Why do you feel like your vote, in particular, matters?

Unidentified Student #3: I think everyone's vote matters, like, in the grand scheme of things, and it helps drive a change in our country.

Unidentified Student: It will be dictating the decisions we can make, our freedom, our values. This is real life. So, your vote matters because you're important and your vote is special.

Elizabeth Rodas-Miranda: Do you think it's important for the younger generation to vote? And even if they can't, should they still care?

Unidentified Student: I think it is important for the younger generation to vote because every vote counts, and they should care about that because ... that's who is going to run the country and state. So, they need to vote, so they don't, like, hate the person who's running it, you know?

Unidentified Student #2: I think it's important for the younger generation to vote so that the older generations know that we're serious about what we want, and then even if we can't vote, we should still be aware of politics.

Elizabeth Rodas-Miranda: What does democracy mean to you?

Unidentified Student #3: Well, democracy just means choice to me. To have the choice between candidates, to have the choice between life issues, to have the choice on things — that's what democracy means to me. That's what I mean; that's what it's always been, it's just been choice.

Unidentified Student #2: To me, it just means that everyone gets a voice, even if that means it's just through representatives.

Elizabeth Rodas-Miranda: What are you hoping for from our future president?

Unidentified Student: I hope that they lower the gas prices and food prices, because I need to eat and I'm broke when it comes to food.

Unidentified Student #3: Somebody who listens to us, somebody who keeps our issues in mind, like young people. Somebody who keeps young people's issues in mind. Somebody who can talk to us and somebody who can represent us efficiently. Somebody that we can trust and believe in, for sure.

Elizabeth Rodas-Miranda: People have different views on democracy, but the one thing in common is our voice. Democracy is all about making your voice heard, whether it's through activism, voting, or simply posting through social media. People's voices are powerful in a democracy because this system relies on them. People are arguably the most crucial part of a democracy. They are its poster child. This system of government is made to uphold its citizens. The people ideally make decisions for the betterment of everyone. It brings people together and builds communities. Democracy to us is about making our voices heard in order to progress as a society.