COMMENTARY

Votes, Like Youth Are Wasted on the Young

by Joe Lyons

Has it really been three decades?

Back in the late sixties and early seventies one of the great anti-war cries was, “Why can we kill but not vote?” The idea was to promote the abolition of the draft.

What happened instead was the passage of an amendment to allow 18-year-olds to vote. And I guess that that is why Richard Nixon won by a landslide in ‘72.

Today, those kids would be about 50. Homeowners with grandchildren on their knee. And today’s 18-year-olds still don’t trust anybody over 30, including all of the candidates. That, and a general disassociation with the system, keeps them from the polls.

Oh there are lots of efforts. MTV Rocks the Vote. MOtor-Voter. But even Norman Lear concedes that Republicans vote like it’s a part of their religion and the kids are not interested. This in a country where you don’t get shot for not voting. This in a country where the last presidential election was decided by “hanging chads.”

It takes more than little card tables set up on college campuses asking passersby if they are registered. It takes people who go out on that first Tuesday in November and vote for someone, anyone. Just take a stand. Employers should encourage voting. Extend lunch breaks or conduct in-house campaigns.

You can still register up to Oct. 27. You can vote at the Registrar’s Office in San Bernardino on Saturday the 30th. Even if you write your own name in, you have spoken your mind.

I hate clichés, but I will close with one anyhow:
"BAD POLITICIANS ARE ELECTED BY GOOD CITIZENS WHO DON’T VOTE."