This is Democracy – Episode 13: New and Future Voters: Why Does This Election Matter So Much?

Speaker 1: This—
Speaker 2: Is Democracy—
Speaker 1: A podcast that explores the interracial, intergenerational and intersectional, unheard voices living in the world’s—
Speaker 2: Most influential democracy.
Jeremi: Welcome to our new episode of This Is Democracy, today in our election special episode, we are talking about voting, what does voting mean? Why is voting so important and how do young people think about voting? Quite often you’ll hear people say pretty negative things about young people that they don’t vote, that they don’t care, and we’re here today to prove that that is not true. We have two of our super-duper freshmen here at UT with us, Jillian and Juliet. Good morning.
Jeremi: Jillian and Juliet are both, as I said, freshmen here at UT and we’re going to talk to them about voting and it’s great how they sound in unison at times. And Zachary is here with uh, with a poem about voting. Zachary, what’s your poem titled?
Zachary: “Vote for Me.”
Jeremi: “Vote for Me.” Okay, let’s hear it.
Zachary: I spread out on the soft couch, watch Seinfeld on the television and another man throws himself onto the frame screaming loud, another shout of division, closing with another pastel logo lane, “Vote for me,” he seems to vouch. No vote for me. Vote for the homeless man who can barely walk along the side of the highway, the immigrant kid, vote decrees, vote for me. Vote for the janitor who cleans the floors of the school. The sweating man who sits in the toll booth and collects your fee, vote for me. Vote for the kid who sits in an inner city classroom and swats away mosquitoes and tries to hear the words told he’s a fool. Vote for the street cleaner and the struggling playwright, the construction worker who sips a burnt flavor of his tea, vote for me.
Zachary: Vote for all the helpers, the assistants, the kind words given on the grimy sidewalk for all the astronauts, writers, presidents you want it to be, vote for me. Vote for your long past grandmother who used to sit with at the diner and talk, vote for her great grandkids, all the places they’d like to see.
Zachary: Don’t vote for the man who could slam their way into your brain over the TV, vote for me. Go vote. Put the hate, the violence, the whatever that stings you lying awake in the dark away. Go. Vote for today, for the future. Vote for whatever keeps you going until the next day. Votes so that your children, your children’s, children’s, children’s, children’s children are but more than some forgotten tool. Votes so that tomorrow’s skies, the skies beneath which you must breathe are not gray. Vote so that the man who lives a hundred years hence in your then old apartment complex can remember the golden rule, vote. Pray that the sun does not yet burn us all up, this hope for tomorrow does not fray, oh I pray. Votes so that the word stays. The rain doesn’t wash away all the chalk. Vote. Cast your ballot. Go home. Open the door to the sunny day and go for a walk, vote for them, vote for me.
Jeremi: I love the passion of that poem. What do you mean by “vote for me?” You’re not running for office yet, I don’t think.
Zachary: It means that you shouldn’t cast your ballot just for a person. You should go vote to protect the people around you and to give voice to other things you see.
Jeremi: So “vote for me” means vote for those who aren’t represented in many cases, right?
Zachary: Yeah
Jeremi: Excellent. Well that’s the appropriate place to turn to Jillian and Juliet. Jillian you voted for the first time.
Jillian: Yes sir.
Jeremi: What did that feel like?
Jillian: It felt really amazing. My junior and senior year in the presidential election and then in local elections in my hometown, I felt like I was doing everything I could about vote-
Jeremi: It was in high school?
Jillian: Yes. I felt like I was doing everything I could about vote for my voice to be heard and I would still be at places with all the signs and people talking about why you should vote for certain candidates, and people would ask me if I was with my mom when I was with my mentor and city council. And so it was just this constant demeaning process of my voice never being to be heard whenever I was doing everything I could for it to be heard. So it was really nice walking into the FAC on campus and being third in line, knowing that I wasn’t going to be asked if I was with my mom. I wasn’t going to be asked if I had to go to school because I had the right to vote and I was getting to exercise it for the first time.
Jeremi: Well, you felt like a citizen, right?
Jillian: I felt like a respected citizen who had a valued opinion on how our country should be run.
Jeremi: And without telling us who you voted for, how did you decide who to vote for?
Jillian: I looked at everything that made me upset and how I saw my peers acting and what I saw in the news and just the attitudes in America, whether it be on campus or in my hometown or just as I’ve met more people, how we talk to each other and how that comes down from the top of the country. I wanted to impact change that I knew would change the respect we give each other and the respect our officials give us.
Jeremi: Very thoughtful, very thoughtful.
Jeremi: Now, Juliet, you’ve lived in the United States for 10 years, correct? And you consider yourself an American, is that right?
Juliet: I think that I’m sort of in the middle, but I definitely partly identify with America, I’ve been here for so long and I grew up here, so, yeah.
Jeremi: And you still can’t vote?
Juliet: No, I am not a citizen, I’m basically an extended exchange student. I’m on a student visa and yeah, I still can’t vote and probably won’t for some time.
Jeremi: Wow. Even though you’ve lived here for 10 years?
Juliet: Yes sir.
Jeremi: Even though you’re planning possibly to stay in the United States?
Juliet: Yes.
Jeremi: So what does that feel like?
Juliet: It’s pretty frustrating since I have grown up here, I care about American political issues and I’m obviously affected a lot of the policies. And so to not be able to have a say in that especially in the foreseeable future is really frustrating, and even more so when I see people around me taking that right for granted and that outlet and that voice for granted and sort of dismissing it in some ways by not voting or by not voting purposefully, it’s saddening and it’s frustrating personally.
Jeremi: Sure, so what do you do to try to have voice?
Juliet: I try to participate in any other way I can. Right now I’ve been canvassing outside the polling stations, handing out flyers and encouraging people to vote specifically for Proposition A, just in general, making sure that people get out to vote because it’s really important. In high school I try to get involved in things as well, going to marches and rallies and trying to volunteer to help register people to vote or doing whatever I can in those efforts.
Jeremi: And Juliet, do you find that other students like Jillian who can vote that they are receptive to you? That they think about it more seriously when you talk to them?
Juliet: Yeah, I’d like to think so. I think especially my friends or my peers, I guess sometimes don’t stop to think that there are some people who can’t vote despite wanting to, and I think my roommate for example, she considers herself to be apolitical and I’m not sure that she was planning to vote at all in the election. One day I was really, really frustrated and I came home and I started ranting to her about this because something in my class reminded me of the fact that I can’t vote, and she was like, “Oh wow, okay, I’m going to make sure I vote for you.”
Juliet: And so that felt really good. If my lack of voting I guess can encourage other people to, I guess that’s something
Jeremi: And certainly your commitment to these issues is really evident in the way you talk about them. Jillian, how does it affect you to know that there are fellow students like Juliet who in every way is just like you and undergraduate part of the future of our country. How does it make you feel that that someone like that doesn’t have a voice?
Jillian: I think it’s really sad. I’ve met some people at UT so far who are citizens and who have every right and every privilege to vote and they’ve told me they’re not going to vote because they think that they could have better candidates and to hear someone know that they have the right to vote and know that they can freely exercise it within five minutes before class and not exercise it, I think it’s really saddening because it shows that even if we say we’re not voting because we don’t like the candidates, it shows that where content and we don’t see that America can grow to what we want it to be and that we’re content with it continuing to push other students aside when we shouldn’t be content with that.
Jillian: I believe we should exercise our vote so that other students who may not be able to vote have the America that is right for them, and we can work to help build it to be a more inclusive place. And even if constitutionally we can’t have every student on campus vote, I believe we can still exercise our votes to create a better environment. And I think it’s really sad when people are content without that environment.
Jeremi: And you think there are real choices?
Jillian: I believe there are real choices. I think it’s when we tell ourselves that there aren’t choices, that’s when we lose our choice.
Jeremi: And Juliet, what do you say to, not just students who don’t vote, but students who can’t vote, who say they just want to stay uninvolved because they can’t vote.
Juliet: If you belong to a group of people who can’t vote, if you’re being silenced in that way, and as young people, I feel like in some ways we’re already silenced as Julian sort of discussed, but I think that if you give up from the start, then we’re never going to get to a place where we can be heard. And so I feel like you should make an effort no matter what. And I do feel like I’ve made sort of a difference in this election despite the fact that I can’t vote by getting out there every day and encouraging people to vote and canvassing for something that I’m passionate about. So I think that yes, it is incredibly frustrating that we don’t have this right and this privilege, but there are other things that we can do and we should keep fighting for our voice to be heard.
Jeremi: Zachary, how do you feel as someone who’s 14 years old and has a few years to go before you vote? Do you feel that this involves you or do you feel it’s something that you shouldn’t worry about? What do you think?
Zachary: I do feel like it involves me a lot and it’s really frustrating, but it’s also scary to see everyone else who’s older than me vote and possibly ruin it for me cause they’re not the ones who have to live with it.
Jeremi: That’s a good point.
Zachary: To see all these things that are definitely going to affect me when I’m older, and even today they’re going to affect me, being decided by people who don’t know me and who aren’t remotely like me is very scary and frustrating.
Jeremi: So do you think Zachary, that younger people should be able to vote?
Zachary: I’m not going to say that I should be able to vote cause I’m only 14, but I do think that younger people should be able to vote.
Jeremi: Jillian and Juliet, what do you guys think?
Jillian: I definitely know people in my high school weren’t ready to vote when we were 16, 17, but when I first started working, it began hitting me that we’re contributing to society just as much as our parents are in some cases and we’re ready to build the economy, we’re ready to get involved past just sticking into ourselves and what we want to do besides our homework. And so I feel like at 16 when you’re able to drive and you’re able to work, the government should give consideration to whether or not that’s a better age that we should start voting. I don’t know if it’s the answer, but I definitely think that there would be a reason to debate 16 or 18.
Jeremi: Juliet what do you think?
Juliet: Yeah, I think I agree with that. I think you’re definitely sort of brought out more into the “real world” at that age. And so I think that yeah, you’re affected by the policies that would be enacted and by whoever is your elected representatives. So I agree that some consideration should be given. And in terms of some people in your high school maybe not being ready at that age, I think there are some people our age who maybe aren’t ready, but I think if we start-
Jeremi: Or some people my age.
Jillian: And we can’t always use them to negate an argument.
Juliet: Right, so I think that maybe if you did start younger you could be into foster, especially within high school and public school, when we take our first government classes that sort of initiative to get educated and get energized to vote at a younger age.
Jeremi: Well there’s an argument to be made that if you voted at a younger age, you would care. And Juliet, what would you see as a solution for your situation? You’ve been here 10 years, should there be a right to vote after living in the United States a certain amount of time or what do you think?
Juliet: I don’t know, I know that’s difficult and just anything surrounding immigration can be really, really difficult and sort of tied up in technicalities. I think I’m really biased cause I personally would say that if you’ve lived here for a certain amount of time, then you claim to live here for a certain amount of time, you’re just as American in some ways, and you’re obviously affected by the same things.
Jeremi: Well you pay taxes for example.
Juliet: Yes. My family pays taxes and we don’t really see any benefits in the sense that we’re helping to maintain people around us, but we personally don’t get the social security or any other privilege from taxes per se. But yeah, I think that we contribute just as much, and so in some ways we are just as deserving of the right to vote.
Jeremi: Right. So what would you want candidates to say and do for your generation that they’re not doing? Let’s assume for a second that everyone listened to the two of you as they will when they hear this podcast, what should young voters be arguing for? Because we know that the interests of young people are not represented in large part because some can’t vote and many who can don’t vote. But if we get a larger turnout this election season, and in future election seasons, young people will have more influence. What do you want to see candidates advocating in response to your needs as young voters? Jillian?
Jillian: The first two off my mind would probably be higher education and infrastructure and higher education going past just the typical four year university. And that’s just because the young voter demographic, you have people in school, but you have people outside of school as well who may not know what their options are. And then if you have people past school, then they’re surrounded by student loan debt. And so I myself don’t know the answers to everything with higher education, but I believe we should have representatives who know higher education, if you’re out of it, if you’re in it or if you’re past it, affects young voters and they need to pay attention to it.
Jillian: And then infrastructure, it’s kind of like we were talking about earlier when we vote, we’re not voting just for today, we’re voting for the long run and there are some roads and bridges that can’t last for the rest of my life, and the government isn’t showing much intention to improve those roads. And so-
Jeremi: You want those investments basically.
Jillian: I want those investments so that when I’m driving my kids to their schools, it’s a safe drive. And I know that for a country that we pay taxes for and love so much, the country is ready to help us back in the most basic way of keeping us safe in the roads.
Jeremi: Very well said. Juliet, what do you think?
Juliet: I think my first thought was education as well, and I think especially being college students right now or maybe if you’re in high school going into college or higher education, I think that if you as a candidate begin to talk about issues pertaining to education, people will frankly care more maybe, and that’s a good way to get people to get excited or motivated to get into the political process especially in terms of I think debt and just the price of higher education, it’s something that everybody can sort of relate to and understand.
Juliet: And my other one was environmental protection, down the same road of that’s going to be our future and we want it to be a safe place where we can all live comfortably and where our kids can live comfortably and we can be at peace with that. So I think that taking care of the environment would be really important as well.
Jeremi: Right. So we have air to breathe and water to drink. Zachary, what about you? What are your issues?
Zachary: I don’t know if I have one issue, but I think caring for those who are less fortunate and who are left behind by our society and also the environment and it goes back to what I was saying earlier, it’s really scary to see people ruin the world and you have no say in it and you know that they know that they’re making the wrong decision.
Jeremi: Right. And it’s not only frustrating, it’s imprisoning for you because you’re stuck with the consequences. So to close us out here, it is of course election season and we’re hoping that young people who are as smart or almost as smart as Jillian and Juliet and Zachary will know they need to go out and vote. I’d like us to close with your final pitches to listeners on why they should go out and vote, Jillian?
Jillian: We’re in one of the few countries that allows and encourages its citizens to vote and takes measures to ensure that the vote is as fair as it can be or can be. And I feel like if someone listening to this doesn’t, but can go vote, then everything that they say they all love America for is very disingenuous because they don’t care enough to either preserve the America they love or change it for the potential that they want to live in. And so I think that that apathy is very toxic and will either make America never progress to its full potential or make us one of those failed democracies that we learn in history.
Jeremi: Right. So we need to overcome apathy.
Jillian: Yes.
Jeremi: Juliet?
Juliet: Mine’s pretty simple, please go out and vote for students like me who can’t so we can live in a place where hopefully in the future we can have a voice.
Jeremi: Yes. That’s very powerful. There are so many among us who are so important to our society who we don’t pay attention to, and this is a time to really think about them and vote with these neighbors and fellow citizens and fellow residents in mind.
Jeremi: Zachary, do younger people your age think about voting? Is there something that you talk about?
Zachary: I only know a small portion of young people, but the young people that I know, a lot of them are very interested in voting and If they’re not super interested in politics, I do think they see the importance of voting.
Jeremi: It’s something that you talk about?
Zachary: But I do think if it’s not made convenient, if you can’t just mail something in or do it on your phone, then it’s going to be a lot harder to get more people to vote because the fact that you have to go on a Tuesday morning to a physical place and spin the dial is pretty stupid.
Jeremi: Right. So part of what we didn’t talk about is of course, ways of making it easier and more accessible for people to vote. Well I’m optimistic, all the evidence so far in this election is that younger people are coming out in larger numbers than they have before. And I think there is an awareness that these issues really matter, and what’s most important is that there are young people who are encouraging their friends and others to go out and vote. People respond to their peers.
Jeremi: So I want to thank Jillian and Juliet and Zachary for being good peer role models. And I want to encourage everyone out there to talk about voting, to encourage people to vote, we all need to be more participatory and we have so much talent as Jillian and Juliet and Zachary show us and it’s time to put that talent into action. So I’m optimistic and I know everyone listening is going to go vote and that’s why this is democracy.
Speaker 2: This podcast is produced by the Liberal Arts Development Studio and the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin. The music in this episode was written and recorded by Harrison Lemke, any you can find his music at harrisonlemke.com.
Speaker 1: Subscribe and stay tuned for a new episode every Thursday featuring new perspectives on democracy.