Many Young Voters in the US Don’t Vote in Elections – NRK Urix – Foreign News & Documentaries

The US presidential elections are described as the most important in many years. But millions of young Americans are likely to survive. David Gates (18) is one of them. You have not met the deadline to register as a voter. So he thinks. He’s not quite sure.

– It seemed so difficult. So many papers to send here and there. I didn’t quite get it, Gates tells NRK.

Four years ago, only half of voters under the age of 24 voted.

Participation is expected to increase across all age groups this year. More than 90 million Americans have already voted in advance. And most of the people we meet at Jacksonville University in Florida are going to vote. Some about Trump, some about Biden. Others leave. David Gates says he would like to participate.

– I’m not against voting. It seems so difficult, he says.

In the United States, you must register as a voter, either as a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, in order to exercise the right to vote. The rules differ from state to state, with many claiming that they do not fully understand the rules as the reason they are not correct.

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Trump is taking over Florida

– Nobody wants black liberation

In Richmond, Virginia, Naomi Williams, 22, has decided: neither Donald Trump nor Joe Biden will get their vote. Williams voted in both the 2016 and 2018 midterm elections, and has helped recruit new voters for the Democrats. But as a black activist, she believes neither Biden nor Trump offers her a real alternative.

– To me, they represent roughly the same. None of them are in favor of black liberation, says Naomi Williams.

He has little faith in the American electoral system and does not hide his disappointment.

– I have knocked 7000 doors for the Democratic Party. I’ve spent a lot of time getting good people chosen. It has not provided better conditions for the people, he says.

The 22-year-old believes that the two-party system is not democratic.

– I refuse to participate, I want to say that it is not democratic. We are asked to vote, but we have no real choice. Both candidates build under the same oppressive system that people like me live under every day, Williams says.

– What could have made you vote?

“I want to hear a politician talk about how the United States can end the long wars that we are in. About how we should take care of indigenous people here, how police budgets should be cut,” Williams said.

You think you should vote in local elections.

– There is a candidate I have threatened. My vote must go to black liberation, says the 22-year-old.

I think friends would get mad

Chris Ryba (29) from Georgia is also skeptical of the American system.

– What effect does one of your voices really have? I wonder. We have a bad electoral system, it is not the case that all votes count equally, says Ryba.

He voted for Barack Obama in 2012 and signed Bernie Sanders four years ago. But this year he is unlikely to participate.

– I am increasingly worried about finances and have less faith in the state than before. No matter who wins, the entire great state apparatus is here. We are not talking about the role of the central bank or the state, he says.

Most of your friends will vote. He has not told them that he is unlikely to exercise his right to vote.

– I think they’d be mad. We talk a lot about politics. People are so oblique. I call myself a curious observer, says Ryba.

– Is there anything that can make you vote?

– If we had a candidate who was even more authoritarian than Trump, a candidate who considered dangerous, then I would vote against him, says Ryba.

He stresses that Donald Trump has nothing left.

– My apathy is not in favor of Donald Trump. I don’t think I’m a good person and I’m ashamed of America. But I think the role and actions of the state are more important than the people, says Ryba.

Maybe vote for Trump

Biology student Lauren Williams (19) in Florida isn’t sure if she should vote. He’s signed up, but he doesn’t like Joe Biden or Donald Trump.

– I don’t like the personality of any of them. And I don’t like the negative approach, they both just talk badly, I don’t think about any of that, says Williams.

He took a quiz to find out who he should vote for. The answer was third candidate Joe Jorgenson, who is running for the libertarian party.

– So maybe I vote for her?

She knows it doesn’t matter much: the American electoral system is a two-party system, and it will be Joe Biden or Donald Trump who wins. Jorgensen has no chance.

– Maybe I’m voting for Trump. He has increased the salaries of the military and I support him, he says.

Florida, the sunshine state, of course. Trump almost has to win this state to win the wobble.

Williams believes that part of the reason so few young Americans exercise the right to vote is that they learn little about how the democratic system works.

“A lot of young people don’t understand it and we don’t learn how the electoral system works at school,” says Williams.