Election day is really coming up! On Tuesday, November 6, people all over the country will be heading to their polling place to make their voices heard. If you have registered to vote, you can be one of these people! There is a lot of information you need when it comes to voting, so here is a guide just for us Behrend students.

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Let us start with why you should vote. Young voter turnout is absolutely abysmal, especially in midterm elections. According to the United States Election Project, voter turnout in the 2014 midterm election for people ages 18-29 was below 20 percent. Compare this to voter turnout for people aged over 60, which is just under 60 percent. Since the older generation votes more often, the government treats them with a lot more care. When you look at the federal budget for the fiscal year of 2018, according to FreedomWorks.org, 61.5 percent of the money spent by the United States goes towards programs for senior citizens. This amount is almost five times what the United States spends on the military. Politicians know that if they promise programs for senior citizens, they will earn a larger amount of the vote, and then be reelected.

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What issues do we see, as younger voters, that could be fixed if we voted more? First, if we had a higher voter turnout, you would see your tuition get a lot cheaper. If politicians had to cater to younger voters more, we would hold them to account on the student debt crisis.

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Then, there are problems on our campus that could get fixed if we voted. Ever wonder if there is a way to fix Behrend’s traffic after class is done? The local government would have to approve any changes to fix Behrend’s traffic problem, and, since Behrend students do not vote, there is no incentive to. Also, there are the hills of Jordan Road. Many days, it is way too icy to walk up the hill. It is especially impossible to get up the hill for our disabled students. There could be a fix to this, but again, since Behrend students do not vote there is no incentive for politicians to make this change.

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Election day is on Tuesday, November 6. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. If you are registered to vote on our campus, you will be voting at the East Erie Assembly of God Church on Saltsman Road. If you are in need of transportation, there will be free shuttles from the Reed Union Building to the polling place going on all day. Also, both Uber and Lyft are offering free rides to the polls. If you are registered elsewhere, it is easy to find your polling place online. If you Google “Where is my polling place,” you will be introduced to Pennsylvania’s website where, when you put in your address, it’ll tell you where to vote.

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If you decide you do actually want to vote and you are registered to vote on Behrend campus, there are three main offices that you should look to be voting for. There is our representative in the U.S. House of Representatives, our representative in the U.S. Senate, and then the Pennsylvania.

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Governor. Next, I will tell you the candidates and three of their main positions and you can decide for yourselves who more fits your interests. If you wish to know more, all of these candidates have websites you can do further research.

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For the U.S. House of Representatives, there are two main candidates: Democrat challenger Ron DiNicola, and incumbent Republican Mike Kelly.

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(D) Ron DiNicola’s platform:

1. Reduce corporate influence on elections

2. Increase federal grants for post-secondary education

3. Support and improve ObamaCare.

(R) Mike Kelly’s platform:

1. Cut down on government regulations on businesses

2. Expand parental choice in regards to education

3. Increase military spending

 

Next, we have the candidates for U.S. Senate. Incumbent Democrat Bob Casey, and Republican challenger Lou Barletta.

(D) Bob Casey’s platform:

1. Fight climate change

2. Expand Pre-K Education

3. Make transferring credits between trade schools and college easier.

(R) Lou Barletta’s platform:

1. Fighting illegal immigration

2. Expanding after-school programs

3. Pro-life

 

Lastly, we have the candidates for Pennsylvania Governor: Incumbent Democrat Tom Wolf and Republican challenger Scott Wagner.

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(D) Tom Wolf’s platform:

1. Increase Education funding

2. Expand Medicaid

3. Full gift ban for PA officials

(R) Scott Wagner’s platform:

1. Cut down on government regulations for businesses

2. Look at waste in the Pennsylvania School System

3. Eliminate property tax

   

To conclude, voting is extremely important for us young people. Politicians do not listen to us, and when someone cannot hear you, you turn up the volume. There are very clear distinctions between the candidates, so it is up to you to decide who you want to be represented by. Your party does not matter, what matters is making our voices heard (and getting that “I Voted” sticker).