Lakeland College

Lakeland College Counselor Weblogs

Vote
Posted on 10/31/2008 10:24:53 AM

Woo! Seniors! Exciting times ahead!

And for some of you who are privileged enough to have earned the right to vote this year, Tuesday is your day. There are many different programs being held on campus to raise voter awareness not only about the each of the candidates' issues, but also on the importance of voting as well.

125,736,000 people voted in the 2004 election. 142,070,000 people were eligible to vote in the 2004 election. 88% of registered voters turned out. Not too bad, one would think, unless you realize that the twelve percent who didn't show up was more than 16 million.

It gets worse.

215,694,000. That there is the number of eligible voters in the 2004 elections. Now we're looking a little more dismal. This means that overall voter turnout was actually 58%. Ooh...read that again. Here, I'll type it for you: 58%. That's bad. Just over HALF of the country decided for the WHOLE country. Not cool. (You can find all of these stats at the US Census Bureau site)

As part of the younger generation (yes, I still consider myself here), we need to send a message to the world the we value our voting rights by turning out in huge numbers at the polls on Tuesday. Remember, if you live in Wisconsin you benefit from the wonderful Same-Day Registration Voter Law that practically guarantees you'll be able to vote.

Have a fun, safe, Halloween weekend, and then let's do this.