Comic and actor Jaboukie Young-White (of Set it Up fame) inaugurated his The Daily Show gig this week by explaining the youth vote to Trevor Noah. The segment got very funny very fast.
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The Daily Show recently appointed Young-White “senior youth correspondent” to address the politics of youth. The newest cast member ended up satirizing the apathy of youth voters, as well as lampooning laws and regulations–like ID requirements–that suppress the typically liberal youth vote.
“I don’t need a driver’s license, my Uber driver needs a driver’s license,” Young-White quipped. He went on to encourage new voter innovations, such as mobile voting, voting from home, and making Election Day into a national holiday.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Vince
That was funny. Well Trevor Noah is Young Old I must be just old old. Lol ?
That’s a good point though. How come we don’t have voting as a national holiday?
MacAdvisor
Because then everyone would take the Monday before off, use the whole thing for a four-day vacation and NO ONE would be home to vote.
Heywood Jablowme
Internet voting is a terrible idea. Although the Russians would love it! Look how much trouble we have already with security and hacking on financial sites & social media. It’s bad enough when it happens with a bank, at least you do get your money back (well, eventually… maybe).
The proven secure way is scannable paper ballots, i.e. always a backup available for recounts. Canada does it right and counts the entire country in a few hours. Oregon runs its elections entirely with mail-in ballots, although this kid would probably object that young people are unfamiliar with how snail mail works, or something.
The voting holiday is a good idea, though!
Kangol
I agree with Heywood about internet voting, and going with scannable paper ballots with a paper trail. Federalize it so that the hackable machines that still exist all over the US are taken out of commission. I also think we should make Election Day a national holiday, and pass a law requiring everyone to vote, as many countries do. Give out cute “I VOTED” stickers too; every 20-something I know who votes loves to show them off on Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, Twitter, etc.
Vince
I think both your ideas are great but there are other even bigger problems like the outdated electoral college and gerrymandering that would invalidate it. Plus, the court stacked with partisan judges.
lather
Good comments by all.
I like the federal holiday though those who are the working poor will probably still have to work and thus it will still be harder for them to get to the polls especially if they live in areas where there are long lines.
I would like to see early voting and vote by mail publicized more for that population who cannot easily get off work to vote.
I do like the everyone must vote idea, but that’s very unlikely.
It will be interesting to see if Taylor Swift’s public voting push provides any results.
Polaro
Young people don’t vote, which is why I don’t care about college tuition. If they can’t be bothered, I can’t either.
misterjack
I agree. Why should we support the little brats. if they stay home in droves and don’t vote?
MacAdvisor
What we need is mandatory voting. Everyone is required to vote or they get a $25 fine. Also, everyone who does vote gets a $500 voucher for the taxes or college tuition.