If you haven’t noticed yet, this week’s issue of the Record has a slight theme. 

Though the municipal election is over a month away on Nov. 5, Oct. 7 is the last day to register to vote. The Record staff thought now would be an appropriate time to remind the Goshen College community to exercise your civic right and vote. 

After 2018’s midterm election, I read an article from New York Magazine’s Intelligencer in which 12 young adults, ages 21 to 28, explained why they didn’t vote. 

The main reason? In my opinion, laziness. 

Several of the young adults cited hectic schedules as the reason for not voting. One person said they couldn’t find a stamp for their absentee ballot. Another person missed the registration deadline. 

While I understand some of the other reasons listed — not enough knowledge on candidates, refusing to support a “broken” system — I refuse to accept the argument that voting is too hard. 

It’s not. It’s especially not hard here at Goshen College, where several people are spending hours this week manning voter registration tables around campus. 

If you care about our broader Goshen community, you should vote in November’s municipal election. 

If you care about our country, you should vote in next year’s presidential election. 

Tufts University just released a study that found that the percentage of college students who voted in the 2018 midterms doubled from 2014. The study found that 40% of students who are eligible to vote cast ballots last year, as opposed to 19% in 2014. 

Goshen College itself saw a spike in student voters, from 14.6% in 2014 to 42.3% in 2018 (you can read more about this study, as well as Goshen College students’ political involvement on page 1). 

If this data is correct, more students are choosing to vote. More Goshen College students are choosing to vote. Why not join your peers and make a difference by voting? 

And if that isn’t enough to convince you to vote, the former mayor of Goshen, Allan Kauffman, has written an editorial about why Goshen College students should vote. 

Also included in this week’s issue is a how-to guide for voter registration, just in case you’re confused about the process. 

We’ve made it easy for you to register to vote, so you might as well.