Why Millennials Aren't Showing Out in the Polls Recap

Griffin Hayes, a Michigan State University sophomore, addressed the widespread cynicism of his peers. “There’s a lot of cynical thoughts about people saying, you know, things like ‘my vote doesn’t count,’" he said. After experiencing everything from 9/11, prolonged and televised wars to the Great Recession and government lockouts, this cynicism has led to 43 percent of Millennials saying it did not matter who was elected because “Washington was broken,” according to a survey conducted by Harvard’s Institute of Politic. Hannah Rakow, also a sophomore at MSU, believes that along with cynicism, lack of investment plays a role in why her fellow Millennials aren't voting. Those in the older generations do their research, whereas Millennials aren’t as informed and “just don’t care as much,” said Rakow. LewAllen also took note of this. “I just think they’re not at a point in their lives because of age where they feel like it’s necessary for them to turn out. In other words when you get older, when you get a family, when you’re established in your career, when you’re paying taxes…all those things, you want to do what you can to affect whatever change you think there should be relative to political leadership," he said.