Sahara Locke
Sep 27 2006 12:00AM
Power is defined as, “A physical force or strength. The authority to act or do something according to a law or rule.” This is usually the first definition that comes to mind when one thinks of power. The human mind has already been preset to see power as a physical advantage; some have power and then some don’t.
But one power is often overlooked, disregarded and discarded as one of the truest forms of power that really exists: the power to vote.
The right to vote has gone through an evolutionary process throughout the past 250 years with its exclusions, inclusions, differences, and partialities. But now it would appear that the privilege that has taken over two centuries to finally be available to any person of legal age is not being readily used as some would hope.
Usually participation has to be a factor for change to be made, and the lesser the participants, the slower things get done – or even perhaps fewer things get done.
According to Juanita Scott, the coordinator of this year’s Constitution Day, many people complain about something needing to be changed in their community, but they rarely take an active roll in the change.
Or, at least, that’s what was originally believed.
As it turns out, today’s youth are taking a commonly held and widely accepted belief and are presenting it from their own viewpoint.
According to information provided by David Stafford, the Escambia County Supervisor of Elections, in just four years the number of young people between the ages of 18 and 29 that have voted in the primary election has risen from 2,423 to 3,954.
PJC student Eric Waldan believes that younger people are now voting a lot more because they realize it’s not a waste of time and that it actually counts.
Young people are making their voices heard in a way that’s causing attention to be stirred. No longer will the voice of today’s youth be ignored as it is clearly displayed in the polls.