As a foreign diplomat, my grandfather cared deeply about civic duty. Walking to the polls with him is one of my happiest memories, one that floats to the surface each time a voter’s pamphlet or ballot arrives in the mail.
“Voting is not just a right,” he’d pontificate. “It’s a duty and the backbone of our democracy.” And then he’d launch into the story of how my great-grandfather, a Washington state senator, went out and talked to every voter in Sunnyside, Washington — on foot, for many miles, through knee-deep snow …
Walking the talk
During my teenage years, my grandfather would review the voter pamphlet with me, reading the candidate statements out loud (much to my grandmother’s chagrin). We’d discuss my thoughts and he’d listen to my reasoning. The minute I turned 18 — on my birthday — my grandfather took me to register to vote. In celebration of my first vote, my grandmother baked a red, white, and blue cake with my name on it, as though I’d just been born into democracy.
Seattle's Child: Our values, our endorsements
Each of us has the right to vote for the elected officials who most closely align with our values. Here at Seattle’s Child, our values dictate that we stand behind candidates who will:
- Put children and families first
- Advocate for affordable health care for all
- Fight to protect the right of every woman to decide what is best for their body
- Commit to protecting the planet for future generations
- Push hard for responsible gun laws so that no family has to suffer the loss of a child or parent to gun violence
- Be courageous in rooting out racism and sexism in our national and state systems
- Commit to ensuring every child has access to a high-quality education from preschool to high school graduation
- Work to see that wealthy individuals and large corporations pay their fair share of taxes
With these values in mind, we stand behind and endorse:
- President of the United States of America: Kamala Harris
- Washington State Governor: Bob Ferguson
- Washington Superintendent of Public Schools: Reid Saarus
My kids received a similar civics lesson. “Your vote,” they heard repeatedly from us, “is your voice.”
A lot of unheard voices
In the midst of the presidential campaign drama and the monumental redirect to Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate, I began to look at voting data from the last presidential election. One statistic caught my attention:
According to Tufts University’s nonpartisan research group CIRCLE, 50% of young people ages 18-29 voted in the 2020 presidential election.
Washington state’s young voters weren’t much better than the national accounting. While Washington ranked 12th in terms of highest voter turnout at 67%, according to state voter participation data only half of the 687,843 eligible voters ages 18 to 24 in our state cast a vote in that election.
In King County, youth turned out in higher numbers than the rest of the state, as did all the voters in all age categories. Nevertheless, nearly 31,000 eligible voters ages 18-24 and 200,000 of all adult eligible voters in King County stayed home on presidential election day in 2020.
The importance of voting
Especially as the highly contentious presidential election draws near, I can’t help but think about my grandfather and his mantra.
“Every vote matters,” he would say. In other words, “YOU matter.”
It’s something our kids, especially teens on the cusp of adulthood, need to hear. It’s especially important when our personal rights are at stake.
Yes, many young people express apathy about politics. But make no mistake. They are worried.
Tell them what matters
My grandfather, who lived through two world wars, a depression, and seven decades of voting, would say that America is no place for voter apathy — in any age category. Our hope for the future, he would argue, is to tell our children, early and often, “Your vote is your voice.”
I hope you’ll follow his lead: involve your kids as you fill out your ballot. Go through the candidate statements with your teens, and remind them that, as of 2022, 17-year-olds in Washington can register and vote in primaries as long as they will turn 18 by the following general election. Take them to register and stick that ballot, when it comes, on their pillows with a note that reads “Please vote.”
Assure them, again: “YOU matter.”
Read more:
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