By Katie Priest, Sept. 10, 2024
The way to bring on change and increase community building is not by abstaining from voting based on a single issue. We owe it to our neighbors, family, friends, shop clerks, janitors, teachers, colleagues, classmates, coworkers and all others in our communities to show up to the polls and vote.
I know my fellow Generation Z Americans have many concerns about what it would mean to vote for someone from an administration who has done little for a cause so close to their hearts. I feel for my friends who believe it is a moral issue, one that might even rise above the problems here in America.
We have an obligation not only to our friends and family but to ourselves to show up and vote. In recent years, I have been able to vote and be politically active, yet the result has been less than satisfactory. I can understand why others have begun to feel apathetic toward the process, but I want to remind my friends and fellow U.S. citizens we cannot have tunnel vision when it comes to voting.
The Israel-Hamas war has thrown our lives into perspective as we watched a war unfolding on the most unstable terms from the comfort of our homes.
Students from around the country gathered together to protest the war and demand a ceasefire. Students formed encampments across the country and did everything they could to hold their colleges and institutions accountable.
Passions for a cause were ignited, and as the war continued during the summer, my fellow classmates across the country continued to find ways to hold the Biden administration and the country accountable.
At this point in the presidential race, President Joe Biden was still the presumptive Democratic nominee, and voting for him was a stretch due to his involvement in the war. I saw across social media many Gen Zers stating they were not going to vote to make a stand against the war.
With the change on the ticket to Vice President Kamala Harris, the feeling didn’t change; the concern for the war did not go away just because the ticket changed. Harris was also a part of Biden’s administration, the same admin who has not listened to any demands for a ceasefire for arms embargo presented by groups such as the Uncommitted National Movement. The Israel-Hamas war is our single issue, and I think it could hurt us.
“When it comes down to it, it’s mostly people prioritizing what they find salient, and that’s mostly all people, whether it’s single-issue voters or non-single-issue voters,” said Jarred Cuellar, an assistant professor at Cal Poly Pomona’s political science department. “But regardless, people will usually prioritize one or two things, whether they’re single-issue voters or not, and usually base their choice off that.”
A poll from the Arab-American Discrimination Committee shows that 45.3% of respondents are voting third party for Jill Stein, 18% are undecided and another 6% are choosing to not vote in the 2024 election. Some are choosing to not vote for Harris on the basis of her policies on Israel.
The idea that abstaining from voting is something that can prevent the callousness of war is a misguided effort that keeps the war going and harms those around us, whether the harm is intentional or not.
I have the utmost respect for anyone standing for their beliefs and exercising their First Amendment rights, but we need to look at the bigger picture. Not voting or voting third party based on one issue will harm us as a country. The alternative from Harris is one we have seen before and not one that we should repeat. This is in no way my endorsement of any candidate but I do argue that this choice is better than abstaining.
“Understanding how important your vote is and actually turning out is the first step to doing it the right way,” said Cuellar. “Having that awareness that it does matter, because if we look at 2016, a lot of people thought voting didn’t matter.”
According to a Pew Research study four out of ten eligible voters did not vote in the 2016 election. These nonvoters were more likely to be younger, non-white, and democratic.
Voting is step one in our obligation toward democracy. So, vote, hold your elected officials accountable, volunteer in your community and get to know your neighbors. Inform yourself and those around you about local officials and community initiatives.
Grievances with the government is not a reason to remove ourselves from the process, but rather a beacon to become more involved and visible every step of the way.
Graphic by Katelyn Chow