Will the millennial voice be heard?

By

Published on

University of Arizona's Daily Wildcat reported that according to Gallup, 63 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the current direction of the country. Yet, if voter turnout is anything like the last five primary elections, no more than 30 percent of Arizonans registered to vote are going to cast a ballot in August 28th’s primary.

According to the Arizona state election data, only 27.6% of registered Arizona democrats voted for Hillary Clinton and 20.3% voted for Bernie Sanders, while 50.7% did not vote at all. On the Republican side, 25.4% voted for Donald Trump, 30% for other candidates, and 44.6% didn’t vote.

In a report titled "Arizona's Voter Crisis," co-author and senior research fellow at Morrison Institute David Daugherty says that wealthy Arizonans are more likely to vote, helping them shape policy decisions. Millennials, defined from 18-35 years old, make up 32 percent of the population, while ‘Baby Boomers’ only make up 29 percent. However, in the 2016 election only 29 percent of Millennials voted, while 62 percent of Baby Boomers did. The most shocking statistic of all is that only four percent of Millennials voted in both the primary and general elections in 2016. It’s not that our votes and voice don’t matter — so few of us actually vote that the Millennial voice is severely weakened.

The only vote that doesn’t count is the one that’s not cast.

READ: The primary is not secondary