The year is 2016. Presidential election year. As those over 18 are approaching November 8th, the Tuesday after the first Monday of November and the general election date, the power is in the people’s hands to decide the fate of the United States of America. But will the people take advantage of their power? Often times, they don’t. But here’s why you should:

1. Popular Vote vs. Electoral Vote: In the U.S., we have a system in place called the Electoral College, a democratic approach to electing our president. The total number of electors in the Electoral College is determined by each state’s Congressional delegation: one vote for each member in the House of Representatives (determined by the state’s population) plus two for each state’s senators (equal for all 50 states). Currently, there are 538 electors and a majority of 270 votes is needed to elect a president. Without at least 270 votes in the Electoral College, a president is not able to be elected. In this case, under the 12th Amendment, the House of Representatives meets to elect the president, regardless of the popular vote. So you may ask, what’s the difference between the popular vote and the electoral vote? If the Electoral College determines who becomes president, why should I even vote?

Short answer: It’s just how it works. Long answer: What the popular vote shows should be reflected in the Electoral College. There have only been four presidents in U.S. history who won the popular vote, but lost the election; therefore, historically speaking, your vote DOES count (91% of the time, at least).

2. The Freedom to Vote: Growing up in the United States, we don’t realize how privileged we are to have our freedoms ensured, with free speech, free expression, the freedom to vote, and many more. Countries such as Zimbabwe, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Brunei, Saudi Arabia, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Russia are all examples of countries where the voice of the people either isn’t taken into consideration or where not all of the country’s citizens can vote. Lucky for us, thanks to the 15th and 19th Amendments, every citizen of the United States (whether they be white, black, male, or female) has an equal right to voice their vote. After our country has gone through so much discrimination and even more hardship to overpower that discrimination, how could we not take advantage of the freedom we’ve been guaranteed? According to the Census Bureau, only roughly 65% of the U.S. voting-age population is registered to vote. We can change that statistic.

3. YOUR Future: Our grandparents and great grandparents may still be voting in the presidential election, but they are not still living in a world where they will be directly affected by the results. Do you know who is? We are. As the rising generation of entrepreneurs, CEOs, inventors, even potential presidents, it is up to us to have a voice in determining the direction of our  country– a direction in which we have the right to voice our opinions and a country in which we will be raising our children and our children’s children. The opinions and goals that the older generations of the U.S. have may not be equally shared among the younger generations, so why should we give them all the power to decide OUR future? Whether you agree that that it’s time to make college tuition free, like Bernie Sanders believes, reinvent our criminal justice system alongside Hillary Clinton, or support building a wall on the Mexican border (funded by Mexico) to keep immigrants out with Donald Trump, let your voice be heard!

Hannah Pebler, a 23-year-old resident of Farmington, New Mexico and a mother of one, shares, “I believe it’s important for young people to voice their vote because we are the next generation of tax payers, health insurance buyers/users, and workers (along with many other things). It is important that we know what’s best for OUR country and our future. It’s possible this candidate is around for the next 8 years which is enough “prime time” in our careers for him/her to make a chance to affect us.”

Emily Messana, a current Senior in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, agrees, “It is imperative that young people voice their vote because the policies set now will have longer lasting impacts. For example, of course a younger person could vote in support of issues that would impact them because they are making up most of the world and growing up into it. Issues that I believe affect us are global warming, legalization of marijuana, and gay rights.”

The United States’ voter turnout for the 2012 election was 53.6%, “based on 129.1 million votes cast for president alongside an estimated voting-age population of just under 241 million people,” according to the Pew Research Center. Compare this number to the voter turnouts of Belgium (87.2%), Turkey (86.4%), and Sweden (82.6%)– much higher numbers for more successful results. So what’s the point? With many of the seniors eligible to vote in this year’s election and nearly all of Air Academy’s students able to vote by 2020, we have the power to not only raise the voter percentage in the U.S., but also establish the course in which the citizens of the United States vote for the ideals we most closely believe in to represent the country in which we live. Can our vote really make a difference? Well, we’ll never know until we try.