There was a major election on November 2. Did you vote? Did you even know who was running in your district? Overall youth voter turnout was low for the midterm elections. According to CBS News’ national exit polls, youth voters made up of 9% of the total votes.

Official totals will not be available for a few weeks, but in the last election, youth voters made up 18% of the total votes. That is a significant difference. Some of that may be chalked up to the fact that this was not a national, federal election. Overall voter turnout is usually lower for midterm elections than it is for presidential ones.

 “Presidential election years have higher turnout.  People believe this is a more critical election and are more inclined to vote,” Political Science Department Chair Tricia Mulligan said.  

Registering rules can differ from district to district. This can lead to a lot of confusion. “Registering was really easy, all I had to do was get the forms from my local library, fill them out, and mail them back in,” said freshman Stasi Formica.

Other students found it very complicated, and said the reason did not vote because they were not registered. There are many laws out there attempting to make registering easier.

Voters can go to the Department of Motor Vehicles and get the National Voter Registration Form. The rules vary from state to state, but in New York, this form is accepted to register, change an address or name, or register with a party. It would seem that this would make registering easier: one form for any state or district that just needs to be filled out and mailed. 

However, many college students need to sign up for an absentee ballot.  Freshman Caitlyn O’Toole wasn’t able to receive her absentee ballot because of paperwork delays. Other problems students have is not knowing where to get an absentee form or when to turn it in.

All of these problems, however, could be easily fixed. Iona College’s Office of Student Development and Student Government Association made an effort to help students register. There were quite a few voter registration drives to assist students in registering. Not many students took advantage of these drives.

Registering can be complicated, but if someone needs help, they can get it. The drop in youth voter turnout possibly points to a more serious problem: people don’t want to vote.

“All the ads seemed aimed to tear one another down rather than promote their own campaign,” sophomore Tamar Tervizian said. This frustration with Washington caused many people not to vote because they felt it would not make a difference.

Some of this frustration comes from the loss of momentum in the Obama administration. Change has  not happened at the rate most people would like, especially when it comes to the economy.

“While it is unrealistic to expect to resolve the most serious economic crisis the United States has had since the Great Depression in under two years and address the massive deficit begun under the previous administration, many voters feel desperate for a change, any change to correct the problems,” Mulligan said.

Basically, many youth voters are uninformed about how to register and vote. The frustration they feel about politics, whether it is the nasty campaign ads or lack of visible reform, causes them not to bother with the process, because they feel it’s not going to matter anyway. The lack of youth voters has been said to be one of the causes for the huge losses the Democratic Party in the House.

Traditionally, and in the elections held just two years ago, young voters have been a major stronghold for Democrats. By not voting, young voters, who have quite a bit of power, are not exercising the influence they have to fix what they are so frustrated with.

Not voting, for whatever reason, is not going to help fix the problems America is facing. Only by using the influence young people have can they begin to influence what goes on in American politics.