As students reach their senior year, many are making the transition to adulthood, turning 18. The age of 18 is full of new opportunities such as the right to vote and the ability to purchase lottery tickets. This past Midterm Election held on Nov. 6, 2018, provided many newly aged 18-year-old seniors the opportunity to vote.  

The ability to have one’s voice heard through voting is an important aspect to the foundation of American democracy.  According to abc10.com, in 2018 registered voters the ages of 18-29 outnumbered registered voters 65 years and older by over 4 million.

“The right to vote is a privileged right that we should all exercise,” said senior India Wood.

The ability to make a change was on a lot of people’s minds this year. Important issues to voters included gun violence, immigration, the #MeToo movement and DACA.  

This year was the first time that many students impacted by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL shooting were able to vote. The student-led registration drives led by survivors of the Parkland shooting led to the highest youth voter turnout in the past 25 years, according to sun-sentinel.com.  

Thirty-one percent of voters ages 18 to 29 went to the polls this past midterm election according to an analysis from The Center for Information and Research On Civic Learning at Tufts University.

However, many people fail to turn out to vote because of various reasons such as that they are too busy or false thoughts that their vote will not make a difference in the election.  Ultimately, this makes the voter turnout age skewed as a higher number of older aged individuals come out to vote.  

This past midterm election had candidates on the ballot for the federal and state house position as well as local government positions.  It also had several constitutional amendments and bonds up for vote.

Change emerged from this election. The House, which was for the past two years Republican controlled, flipped and will now be controlled by the Democrats for the next two years.  The Senate will remain in control by the Republicans.

The right to vote is more important than ever today. One’s voice is valued and needed in the American society.  This past election showed just how much one’s voice matters.