Conversations on social media have been heating up as elections have come to pass.
While we aren’t voting for the president this time around, the state elections will affect our local representation. You might ask yourself, why should I vote?
Many of us might believe that our vote does not matter, however our vote was exactly what the United States was founded on. We are a nation built for the people, by the people. One voice is not always capable of causing change but many voices rising up together is what has led to change in our nation’s history.
With recent political tensions, there have been more demonstrations across the United States in 2025 than the past four years. The most well known of 2025 is the “No Kings Day” marches held on Oct. 18th. In over 2,700 events, 7 million attendees across all 50 states protested against the Trump administration and advocated for the rights of Americans.
Voting turnout in national and state elections has increased in recent years. In the recent mayoral election of Zohran Mamdani, New York showed out to secure his spot in the race. New York has seen a major increase in not only overall voter turnout this year, but especially youth voters. More than 2 million ballots were cast in this election, making it the largest voter turnout in New York in over 50 years. The 28% increase in youth voter turnout also showed a major change from the statistics taken in past elections which showed a very low overall turnout.
This win for Mamdani seemed to ignite a sense of hope in the citizens of New York and across the country. Not only did he secure 50% of votes in the election, but he also competed as an individual candidate with a much lower amount of funding for his campaign.
“Thank you to those so often forgotten by the politics of our city who made this movement their own,” Mamdani said during his victory speech on Nov. 4th.
According to a recent survey of 146 students here at EvCC, results showed that a shocking 73% of students that responded to the survey voted in the recent mid-term elections. While this represents a small proportion of the current student population, it is a much larger number than was expected. Of the 146 students surveyed, 92% indicated that they were of age to vote, and seemingly followed through on their right to vote.
Voters aged from 18-29 are usually made out to be the voices with the least amount of power. However, they have been proving that to be myth in 2025 and hopefully the years to continue.
