Focus Factor
Lowering voting age: most MVHS students, staff disapprove
Many say young people’s voices need to be heard. Voting is a great way to do this, but is it really the best idea? When MVHS was presented with a survey question asking if the voting age should be lowered, the response was surprising. A staggering 81.8% said no, it shouldn’t be lowered, while 18.2% said yes, it should. The individual responses presented a common theme for each side, one that a lowered voting age would yield irresponsible voting, and the other that it would provide a much-deserved say in young people's futures.
When sophomore Emily Horrell was asked why she thinks the voting age should be lowered, she responded by saying, “As young adults we have so much information available to us that we could learn how to be responsible voters.” Horrell then suggested, “ There could be a test we can take to see if we have enough knowledge and maturity to vote in a presidential or local election.” When asked if she thinks lowering the voting age to at least 17 would change the political landscape, she stated, “Yes, this could change how candidates try and appeal to younger generations!” Horrell went on to say, “It would introduce many opportunities for young people to really be involved in our country.”
Meanwhile, freshman Dayzie Weaver doesn’t think lowering the voting age would be a great idea. When she was asked why she doesn’t believe it should be lowered, she responded by saying, “Many teens and children aren’t well educated about political issues and often just follow the views of their parents.” This has been shown to be true on multiple occasions. According to The Cut, “A child with a strongly Republican mother, for example, would be an average of 2.25 points more conservative than a child with a strongly Democratic mother, while fathers’ political beliefs led to a 2.5-point shift.”
Weaver does believe, however, that young people should be educating themselves on politics and government. She stated, “Not being educated from an early age could result in them making bad decisions in the future regarding voting.” Weaver also explained, “There is no reason young people shouldn’t be able to protest, use their voice when it comes to political issues, encourage people to vote, and speak out about injustices.”
It’s especially important to look at this topic through the eyes of an experienced voter. Special services teacher Ms. Lana Moore has been voting in every election since she was 18, after the Twenty-sixth Amendment was ratified. This lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 which was the age of the military draft. The popular slogan at that time was, "old enough to fight, old enough to vote." Moore stressed that while it is a privilege to be able to vote, you must be an educated voter.
Ms. Moore stated, “I heard an elderly person one time say that if you don't vote, you have no right to gripe about what is going on in the country. How true that is. If you want to be part of the solution to the problem, exercise your right to vote.” When Moore was asked if she believes that 16 or 17 year olds are mature enough to vote, she responded with, “There are some sixteen and seventeen year olds who would be mature enough to make an informed decision in elections.”
She added that while there might be some mature teens, “My opinion is that more sixteen and seventeen year olds may still be swayed to vote with their peers and social media influence instead of being informed and voting to their true morals and values than not. Unfortunately, there are many adults who do the same.” Ms. Moore gave a wise final touch to this topic including a few words of advice, “The internet has given us the ability to have information almost instantly. It is our responsibility to use it wisely when researching the issues of today. The bottom line is to be informed and make educated decisions based on our own morals and values. Stand for what is right, even if you stand alone.”
Theory confirmed: virtual students assigned more than seated
Everyone has felt or at least theorized by now the differences between virtual and seated students. Many virtual students have already expressed that they feel overworked and beyond stressed out (including the author herself). Many of these virtual students also expressed that they feel they not only get more work from teachers but they feel teachers have higher expectations for them because they aren't seated students.
“I'm finding it hard to turn in all of my assignments and I feel as if they should give us less work because it's hard to turn in all these assignments on time,” expresses sophomore Allisson Rockwood.
Sophomore Alyssa Davis says, “I think I receive the same amount of work, but I feel like more is expected of us considering not all of the teachers do Google meetings, which makes it harder because if you have a question you can't really see them work it out step by step. You have to just go by what they tell you over an email pretty much.”
“Yes, I feel like I have more work. Last week, especially. It mostly depends on the week,” junior Cameryn Cassity states.
So is the theory true? Or is it all in the students' heads? Not to be too straightforward or anything, but the answer is yes, it is in fact true that students are receiving more work, and more is being expected of them. However, not all teachers do this!
As Brook Olinger-drama and speech teacher-explains, “They do get more work, simply because they aren't in class for discussions. I give them an extra worksheet each week with questions over the lecture to check their understanding.”
“No! Why would I give virtual students more work? That’s terrible," health and PE teacher Michelle Rust says. "I am expecting the same work from my virtual health students as I do from my seated students.” She adds, “I honestly believe that the majority are doing the workouts--if the others are lying, then that’s on them. My classes are focused on health and well-being. I’m hoping that my classes are not a stressor to them.”
English II teacher Emily Sampson shares, “They are required to do a little more work because they are doing more on their own. They have to do daily work to prove their attendance either in the form of an assignment or a simple question.”
Computer and yearbook teacher Bridgett Schmutz says the only difference in her approach is “Longer deadlines if anything. I'm being very forgiving when it comes to technology. Trusting that students are taking advantage of the situation."
MVHS students can contribute to 2020 election
With the 2020 election soon approaching, many young adults have registered to vote and are heading to the polls. In Missouri, the legal age of voting is 18. This, unfortunately, leaves many young people, including students such as the ones here at MVHS, feeling a little helpless when it comes to the idea of casting a vote.
Sure, some might not be able to legally fill out those ballots, but there is still so much young people can do to help. One of the most helpful contributing factors when it comes to voting is simply spreading the word.
The idea of politics is definitely not something new here at MVHS, with the new common appearance of a MAGA hat here, or a Biden or Bernie shirt there, but are we really promoting politics in the right way? Are we really helping to contribute to voting by wearing a simple piece of clothing?
This is why the idea of discussion is so important. For young people, it can be as simple as asking a parent if they are voting this year and making sure your family knows the importance of election time. Younger activists can also double-check with their older friends, making sure newly turned 18-year-olds are registering to vote and making an impact on our country’s future.
Some students might even resort to social media to spread the word about voting. The simplicity of making a little post about the 2020 election on Instagram, for example, might seem too easy, but in reality, it makes a huge impact.
According to an article done by the Pew Research Center, “Social media platforms have become a notable venue for people to try to convince their friends to vote.” By taking only a few extra minutes out of your day by making a post, you could be helping out more people than you think.
Overall there is still so much that young students can do to help. By taking the time to have a discussion with a family member, to making a little, but impactful post on social media, you could help change the future for our whole country.
So, if you are a young student here at MVHS have that discussion with your guardian and make that Snapchat story because ultimately there is still so much power in our young voices; and if you’re above the age of 18, GO VOTE!
MVHS quizzed on voting myths and facts
As of October 29, 2020, over 75 million Americans have already voted, new and old voters alike. Some have voted via in-person voting, others have mailed in absentee ballots. Still others have filled out ballots and dropped them off at polling locations or ballot boxes.
However, misinformation about voting has spread wildly, and with election day just around the corner, many new voters have questions about how to vote, when to vote, and if their vote will even be counted.
The Green and White Review staff thought it would be a good idea to test our student body on their knowledge of voting, and then address the most common misconceptions.
To start, we got 34 responses. This survey went out late, which probably accounts for the low numbers. Regardless, 437 students attend MVHS, meaning 7.8% of students responded.
Ten of the questions had auto-grading turned on to simplify information gathering--one was simply asking if you believed your vote mattered, and there was section for comments.
The highest score on this was nine out of ten. Only one student got that. The lowest was four out of ten, and five students got that. Three questions were answered incorrectly over 50% of the time, and one question that had its responses spilt completely 50-50.
Question one was the question missed the most, with 82.4% of respondents answering it as true. The United States Constitution does not explicitly grant every citizen the right to vote. The 15 amendment grants the right to vote to people of color, the 18th grants the right to women, but nothing says all citizens have the right to vote. If they did, perhaps we would automatically register voters when they are of age instead of requiring voters to register themselves.
The question that was answered incorrectly the second most, and perhaps most unsurprisingly, was number four. 73.5% of respondents answered it as true, when in reality, Voter I.D. fraud, or indeed, any sort of voting fraud, is very rare. According to the Brennan Center For Justice, “...extensive research reveals that fraud is very rare, voter impersonation is virtually nonexistent, and many instances of alleged fraud are, in fact, mistakes by voters or administrators. The same is true for mail ballots, which are secure and essential to holding a safe election amid the coronavirus pandemic.”
This is because voter fraud is very difficult to pull off. Many states have devoted so much legislation to preventing aspects of it. For example, impersonating a dead voter. States have legislation purely devoted to disenrolling the deceased from voter rolls.
In order to impersonate the voter, one would have to first hide the fact that the person is deceased. Then, one would have apply for a mail-in ballot, as in-person voter fraud would be very easy to detect. To apply for a mail-in ballot, you’d have to change the deceased’s registered address to your own, which means re-registering them to vote. That requires some form of identification, such as the deceased’s driver’s license. Then, of course, one must fill out and return the ballot, assuming the fraudster doesn’t get caught during the process. That is an astronomical effort for just one vote.
On top of all of this, if one is convicted of voting fraud, you are legally disenfranchised, or denied the right to vote. On top of that, nearly every instance of voter fraud is easily detected. Despite what various politicians may claim when they lose elections, voter fraud is not a major issue in the United States, or at the very least, not coming from voters.
The third question answered incorrectly most often was number 9, that electronic machines are a safe and reliable way to vote. They are most certainly not, as there are many recorded instances of electronic voting machines messing up and complicating results. Voting machines are also extremely vulnerable.
To start, in 2018 a video went viral showing how to easily hack a voting machine in under two minutes with no tools. That particular model was used in over 18 states at the time. Another alarming fact, the company that made the model had been indicted in 2013, charged with using bribery to obtain business in Russia, China, and Indonesia. That was not the first time the company had been charged with bribery.
Of course, hacking the machine would be difficult in a booth. Unfortunately, many voting machines are left alone and unattended in polling places before election day, as Princeton University professor Ed Felton has set out to prove many election days. His process is simple. He looks for signs that point the direction of and follows them. The voting machines are often stored at polling locations, with minimal surveillance and security. To prove he was there, he then took selfies with the machines.
Professor Felton and his colleagues at Princeton have also proven that that voting machines can be hacked, although their methods are more advanced than the two-minute method mentioned earlier. Interestingly enough, they did this on the same model vulnerable to the two-minute method, the Diebold AccuVote-TS.
This doesn’t even get into the instances where the voting machines had bugs or glitches that caused issues, such as the time where a voting machine in Iowa was fed about 300 ballots and spat out over 4 million results. That’s about one million more votes than the actual population of Iowa. Another documented instance of the machines glitching a small town election where the results were flipped. The losing candidate went around getting signed affidavits proving that people voted for them and not their opponent. sometimes the touchscreens slip out of place, causing them to incorrectly register finger placement and count votes for the wrong candidate.
There are a lot more problems with voting machines than that, but for times’ sake, we’re moving on.
Question number six was split evenly, as it was worded somewhat confusingly. To be clear, the goal was to see if the student body believed you only had to register if you moved. That is not true, you must also register if you change your name or change your political party. If you permanently change states, you must register to vote in the state you have moved to.
There are a few more misconceptions to address. However, the majority of respondents got these ones right.
You can be called for jury duty or drafted into the military regardless of whether you register to vote, so long as you are a citizen of America. Jury lists do rely on Voter Registration lists, but they are also filled by Driver’s License registration data and I.D. renewals.
If you vote on a mail-in ballot, the first thing poll workers do is verify your signature. If it doesn’t match the one on record, the ballot is thrown out. This has actually lead to some wrongful discounting of ballots, as most people have two signatures, one for when they want their signature to look good, and one for when they’re in a hurry.
It is illegal in Missouri to post a photo of a filled-in ballot on social media or take a photo of it at all. This is to prevent the buying of votes. If a person can prove that they voted for a particular candidate, then someone can pay them to do so.
Most importantly of these few, you will not be turned away from voting if you are wearing campaign apparel. If someone tries to dissuade or block you from voting while wearing campaign apparel, that is voter suppression and or voter intimidation, both of which can be illegal.
Voter intimidation is almost always illegal and a federal crime. It includes aggressively questioning a voter’s citizenship, criminal past, impersonating election officials, and spreading false information about requirements to vote. If you come across it you can report it to a poll worker, the Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE or 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (en Español), or the Lawrence County Courthouse. This website might also be of use.
It is of note that poll workers are not allowed to wear campaign material. This is because that could be seen as trying to influence the vote.
Now, to deal with one of the most important questions on this survey. Three students said they believed their vote did not matter. One of them provided an anonymous explanation.
“I believe the electoral college may invalidate people’s votes if they are not a majority of a political party in a specific state. If a 49 to 51 vote determines an entire state’s political preference, that invalidates the other party which still makes up a percentage of the state, even if it is a minority,” they said.
In a way, they are right. Many experts believe that the electoral college is outdated, as do many ordinary citizens. Professor Darrel M. West put it best in his paper on the electoral college.
“Having a president who loses the popular vote undermines electoral legitimacy. Putting an election into the House of Representatives where each state delegation has one vote increases the odds of insider dealings and corrupt decisions. Allegations of balloting irregularities that require an Electoral Commission to decide the votes of contested states do not make the general public feel very confident about the integrity of the process. And faithless electors could render the popular vote moot in particular states.”
This was especially highlighted in the 2016 election when President Trump lost the popular vote by three million ballots, and yet still managed to win the electoral college 305-227. Even if the fourteen faithless electors who voted for non-majority candidates had voted for Clinton, it still wouldn’t have been enough.
Before we go any further, it is probably best to define the phrase faithless elector. A faithless elector is a person who was supposed to vote for the candidate that won the popular vote in their state, but instead cast their vote for a different candidate.
The way the system works may make you feel like your vote doesn’t matter, but it does. If the popular vote and electoral college winners continue to be mismatched, more people will support changing it. If more people support changing it, the people in power will start to seriously consider it.
America has come close to doing away with the electoral college before. We can likely come close again.