Election season has hit the US, and the importance of voting can’t be emphasized enough. However, not everyone can recognize the impact their vote has, and it ends with them not voting at all. In a modern republic, a person’s vote can count for everything. Not only is it an important way to get your own voice heard, it can have a serious impact on the future laws of our nation. This is an opportunity, especially for young voters, to weigh in on the proposals on a state and national level. An educated public is a powerful public that can help people who need it.

Current laws and proposals being debated and voted on in Michigan include the legalization of possession and use of marijuana (Proposal 1), the ending of partisan gerrymandering (Proposal 2), and automatic voter registration, no-reason absentee voting, and straight-ticket voting (Proposal 3).

These are proposals that a lot of young voters, whether they’re 18 and in high school or have just left it, feel passionately about. It’s not something you can count on your neighbors and friends to do. Take action for yourself and for what you believe in. Something we’ve learned continuously in the past few years, from Parkland to school protests, is that young voices change minds. But it’s not just minds that you have access to changing for this election; you have a chance to change the entire system. Abstaining from voting is taking for granted the right you have to change your government and help this nation and your state as a whole.

Young voters between 18-34 make up ~23.3% of the US population. That’s enough to sway an election when added to the other votes. It’s enough to pass the proposals that you feel will help your fellow citizens. Your vote is important. It makes change. Even if you think it doesn’t count for much, what does abstaining count for? Your voice can’t get heard if you don’t even try, and nothing will change if fresh perspectives of young voters aren’t expressed. The people who tell you that a single vote doesn’t matter, that your vote doesn’t matter, get to pick whoever they want to win when you listen. Take your chance to change the laws and the systems they uphold, and make your voice heard. There’s no better way than voting for the future you want.