State youth need to 'show up'

By: Chris Burks

Posted: 9/12/08

Woody Allen once observed that 80 percent of success is showing up. If American democracy is the grand experiment some less quirky observers have supposed, then our generation of Arkansans is failing some kind of bad.

Arkansans under 30 made up 9 percent of the voters in our presidential primary in February. Young Arkansans' share of the electorate ranks worse than 45th in the nation.

However, all ages should share in this burden. This summer, the inky wretches with the Northwest Arkansas Times Editorial Board declared we should ignore the majority of the Washington County Election Commission and not stoop so low as to "spoon feed" democracy by having an on-campus early vote location.

Words have consequences, and the Editorial Board's flippant statement is equivalent to the morally bankrupt call to arms to not trust anyone over the age of 30.

In spite of the silliness of the editorialists, the fact remains that our generation of Arkansans is doing a little worse than the 2-8 1952 Razorback football team. Why? Political scientists and economists are paid to ponder such questions, but you don't need to know what a z-score is to understand what's happening.

Myth # 1: Arkansas is an old state and our voting statistics simply reflect that reality.

Yes, Arkansas has a larger percentage of citizens over 65 than some other states, but young people aren't voting to their share.

Myth # 2: Young people's votes don't matter.

Young people's votes make the difference. Sen. Barack Obama would not have won the Iowa caucuses had the youth vote not tripled since the 2004 caucuses.

Myth # 3: Our generation is apathetic.

Civic engagement in this generation is much higher than the last. Sept. 11, 2001, spurred an upward arc in involvement like none in recent history. Nationwide civic engagement simply isn't translating to young people voting in Arkansas.

Obstacle # 1: Access.

Hendrix has a polling precinct on campus. Why doesn't the UA? Judging from the rhetoric of the lone vote against an early-voting site, there isn't an early-vote location where more than 20,000 residents work and learn every day because there is another site close by.

Instead of addressing real issues, such as the smaller percentage of Arkansas youth in higher education and the absence of the concomitant structural support for civic education and voter registration, we get a lecture on laziness and excuses about accessibility.

Are not students taking it upon themselves to work together with faculty, staff and townspeople to get an early voting site on campus a shining example of personal responsibility?

Obstacle # 2: Medium.

Traditional politicians don't speak in our medium. Hard-copy newspaper readership is down across the country, and only a few politicians understand Web 2.0 and online social networking. This reinforces a cycle of neglect.

Obstacle # 3: Message.

Typical politicians don't speak with the right message. Generally, young people care about the same issues as the rest of the population: Iraq, Darfur and the economy. We care more about education, but when politicians speaking down to us about how voting is 'cool' or 'hip,' they only continue a cycle of mutual neglect.

Solution # 1: Personal responsibility.

Yes, our generation must take more responsibility. We have to walk, ride, drive, or show up to vote by any means possible.

Solution # 2: Collective action.

There are real systemic challenges to voting that we can only address together. We should lobby the State Legislature to change the law requiring a super majority of County Board of Election Commissioners to move certain polling sites. We should spend more of our time on non-partisan voter registration. We should expand the reach of motor voter laws.

In the end, we have to get more wins for our state. Just as going 2-8 is isn't good enough, youth voting at 11 perent or child poverty at 25 percent falls well short. Vince Lombardi proclaimed that "winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is." Now is the time for our generation to step up and work together to get more wins for our state. First, we have to vote.