On Thursday, Nov. 1 , five days before the election, the faculty and students of UHMC held a teach-in. The topic: Why Voting Matters. The goal of the teach-in was to educate those who attended on certain issues facing voters around the world, including issues in our own country. As well as, why your vote really does matter.
The first teach-in ever held was at the University of Michigan, March 1965. These teach-ins of 1965 were held to protest the Vietnam War. The teach-in at UHMC was not held for protest but rather to spread information to our youth about the absolute importance of getting to the polls on Nov. 6 and doing your part to make a difference in our country. Young voters (ages 18-29) make up almost 50 percent of the eligible voters in the U.S. This makes us, the youth, a powerful force in politics. Unfortunately, not all people who can vote, will. In 1998, five percent of the eligible youth voted. In 2004 this number rose to a historic 47 percent. It is our civic duty to keep this number on the rise, until every person eligible is voting.
This event was put together by Michael Ryan, a history lecturer at UHMC. His students gave presentations on certain aspects of voting such as, the history of voting and voting restrictions. Key points included voting rights in other countries versus our own, voter-turnout, gerrymandering and voter suppression. There were a handful of Maui County political candidates who attended the teach-in. In attendance were Tina Wildberger, Alika Atay, Tamara Paltin, Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, Trinette Furtado, Rick Nava and Claire Carroll. These candidates all gave very moving speeches about what exactly got them into politics and how these elections directly affect us.
The students spoke in-depth about voting laws around the world and how voting has changed in our own country. In the U.S., women have had the legal right to vote since 1920, less than 100 years. African Americans have only had this right since 1965. Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, women have only been legally allowed to vote since 2015. On the other hand, New Zealand became the first country to grant Women’s Suffrage in 1893. In the Hawaiian Kingdom, noble women have had suffrage as early as 1840. Many other aspects to voting around the world were discussed. The general idea being shown was, here in the United States, we have an incredible freedom when it comes to voting and we need to take advantage of that.
I’m sure we have all heard at least one person say, “I’m not going to vote because one vote won’t change anything.” But, if every single person who thought that their one vote wouldn’t do any good, went out and voted, it could cause a massive change in the elections. If certain issues going on in our country right now upset or anger you, the best thing you can do is to go out on Nov. 6 and vote.
