Students understand the importance of voting, flaws and all

Commentary by Sydney Weaver-Bey

For many students, the issue of voting extends beyond whom we may or may not vote for; it revolves around the issue of whether our voice is heard.

As election season neared, the campus of Florida A&M University became home to many students who are quite adamant about the issue. Several students across the campus realize that voting is important not only for students, but for any adult. But, this sometimes comes with a price; there are too many students who feel that their voice is not heard, or that somehow they are not taken as seriously.

In order to ensure that students in Tallahassee were taken seriously the Student Government Associations from Tallahassee Community College, Florida State University and FAMU united for a shut-in at the Civic Center, and then marched to the courthouse together the next day to participate in the early voting process. This display of action not only showed people that students are aware and trying to make a change, it also prompted other students to follow in their peers’ footsteps. Call it positive peer pressure.

Voting, for students, is a good habit to get into. Not only is it good to set a positive example for younger generations, it is also important to let our elders know that we indeed should be taken seriously. Kawanda Taylor, a third-year political science major from Orlando, warns students not to vote just because they can but to really understand and focus on the issues.

“If you don’t know the issues then why are you voting?” she says. “In order to be taken seriously students have to understand the issues.” Other students have been disheartened by the perceptions that the voting process isn’t always fair and trustworthy.

“It makes me not want to vote,” said Antwon Allen, who is a public administration major. “I mean it makes me feel like my vote doesn’t even count, so why vote?”

His sentiments are very similar to that of other students.

“I’m voting because I know it’s important and it matters to me, the issues at hand are important,” said Liston Davis, a pharmacy student. “But do I question the system? Of course.”

Election season in Tallahassee has come and gone, and the students stepped up and took these matters in their own hands by voting. For that they should be commended. For the student body, however, there is a lot of work to be done. FAMU students are well aware of the issues surrounding unacceptable political practices as they relate to voting, and they are focusing on methods to solve them. Not with the help of those running the system, but with the support of their peers.

That is the kind of action, if continued, that will bring my fellow Rattlers – all students, in fact – far in life.