Young People Are More Progressive and Politically Engaged Despite Facing Significant Hurdles to Cast a Ballot

Style Magazine Newswire | 11/11/2022, 3:04 p.m.
In an election cycle fraught with challenges, young people still organized and turned out in droves to make their voices …

In an election cycle fraught with challenges, young people still organized and turned out in droves to make their voices heard and protect their freedoms at the ballot box. Despite this being the first general election since the passage of voter suppression legislation in Texas that restricts young people’s voting access, rising political extremism that pushes people away from the process, and a state administration that has all but abandoned its responsibility to promote democracy in the state, youth voter turnout in this election remained strong.

In an episode that is emblematic of the persistent barriers to the ballot box young voters continue to face election after election, a polling location at Texas State University experienced malfunctions with five of their eight voting machines on election night. In response, MOVE Texas rapidly secured transportation from the campus location to another voting center. MOVE Texas Action Fund Executive Director Claudia Yoli Ferla issued the following statement:

We faced incredible challenges during this election cycle. Last year, the state passed anti-voting legislation that deliberately made it much more difficult for young people and first-time voters to participate in our elections. Young people are worthy of what we all expect and deserve in a democracy– leaders who celebrate their participation, are responsive to their needs, and take their issues seriously. The real problem is that on many of the issues that are important to young people, extremist and out-of- touch politicians in Texas moved in the opposite direction– taking millions from the fossil fuel industry, enacting radical abortion bans, and refusing to take ac- tion on gun violence. All of these fail- ures are designed to instill a profound disillusionment and frustration with a hostile political system that continues to exclude the lived experiences of young people rather than lift them up.

“This election, young people showed up in defiance, despite them waiting hours in line, and voted for the freedom to decide when and if they want to start a family, the freedom to vote and determine their own futures, and the freedom to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and leave behind a livable planet. Every single young person that organized and turned out to vote across the state in this election is a testament

to the determination and commitment to the fight for a more inclusive democracy. “Regardless of election results, we’ll do it all over again and keep fight- ing every single day. Elections are a mo- ment, young people are the movement. We will build on the progress we’ve made this year, just as we built on the progress we made in the years before that. Our movement to build the lasting political power of young people will not happen overnight, or in one or two cycles. But together, we will get there.” Learn more about Move Texas at www.movetexas.org.