Guest Column: A message from USUSA Student Advocate Vice President Ethan Conlee

Another year has come and gone and another round of elections is here. You may not have noticed. This is because this year there are no elections for federal and statewide offices, this year the only names on the ballot will be for city and county office. It is during these years that voter turnout is commonly far lower than in federal and state election years. That is a shame.

To put things in perspective, during the 2018 Midterm election in Utah, there was a huge turnout of voters. Just over 75% of registered voters came out for those elections, by comparison in the preceding year of 2017 the city of Logan reported that less than half that number, only 35% of registered voters voted in municipal elections that year.

When you look at the numbers for students the picture is even more grim. In the precincts most heavily populated by students the turnout for registered voters was often under 10%. It is odd to consider that the election where our votes have the least influence are the elections we tend to spend the most time thinking about.

I’m no stranger to this. I spend hours every week reading about issues in the national news that will probably only have limited influence on my life, and yet how often do I, and do we as students, overlook the ability we have to influence the issues that will impact our lives as members of this community and students at this University?

The answer is far too often. Important issues like zoning for housing, funding for local services and programs, funding for infrastructure projects are decided on the city level, and all are likely to affect our lives far more than federal policy.

Those who will be voted into the offices of mayor and city council have the power to influence the community in many ways. It may be easy to overlook the reality of city politics because of the short time we stay here to attend university. However, as you vote for candidates you vote on behalf of all the students who will attend Utah State in the future. It is the future of the student body, not just the four years you have at university, that are at stake each election cycle.

We won’t all have time to sit in on every city council meeting, or stay informed on every local issue, but one of the great strengths of our systems is that we don’t have to. Because we live in a democracy, all of us have the great right responsibility to vote for candidates who we believe will do their best they can to represent our interests.

I ask each of us to do our part in becoming informed about the policies and values of each of the candidates running (I promise its not too bad there’s only five) and then voting in line with who you believe will best represent your interests, as well as the interests of our community.