My son was excited to cast his first ballot, although he was less enthusiastic than expected. In retrospect, older generations are to blame for providing a subpar “citizen journey” experience. From a young age, our children receive conflicting signals about the meaning of participating in our democratic republic. On Election Day, our children — rising first time voters — are not in school learning about civics. Instead, they are given a holiday to shop and hang out with friends.
Once they become old enough to exercise their right to vote, their idealism is further dimmed upon realizing that most voters are ill-prepared on Election Day. My son was shocked to find little-to-no readily available information about so many candidates on the ballot, particularly state judges and “down-ballot” candidates. How can we ask our children to cherish the right to vote when they cannot find basic information about the candidates asking for their votes?
Even worse, my son — who was away at college and voted by absentee ballot — was disappointed to learn that his vote was invalidated by our local Board of Elections, which said the signature on his absentee ballot did not match the signature on file.
Part of the problem? Most young people rarely use cursive anymore and few recall the exact signature they provided upon registering to vote. Cursive is no longer consistently taught in schools, so this discomfort is understandable.
My son voted with an absentee ballot because he was upstate in college. While well-intended, absentee ballot overuse creates unnecessary risks and challenges including voter authentication. Why doesn’t New York allow him to vote in-person outside his residency district?
When my son graduated high school, we discussed maintaining his current residency in part because New York’s 17th District is one of the few politically competitive districts in the country. Only 10% of United States congressional seats are now considered competitive due to political gerrymandering, which with the primary system, has institutionalized polarization by entrenching partisan power and elevating extreme viewpoints.
Where do we go from here?
New York schools should utilize Election Day to teach civics through experiential educational programs. On ballot access, lawmakers should prioritize properly resourcing in-person confidential voting along with improved voter authentication methods, provide limited hardship exceptions for absentee ballots, and allow New Yorkers to vote in-person at any New York polling place — with widespread access to early in-person voting to accommodate people with busy schedules.
Each candidate on the ballot should be required to provide basic information about themselves in easily accessible, designated digital and physical locations to be made available to the public in accordance with clear rules and regulations. And on structural reform, New York’s governor and Legislature should champion an effort to reform the primary system and pass a U.S. constitutional amendment prohibiting political gerrymandering.
My three sons are 13th generation Americans whose ancestors fought as Patriots during the Revolutionary War. I often talk with them about the ideas that sparked American independence and an endless pursuit of greater freedom, liberty, and justice: from 1776 to the Civil War and Civil Rights Movement, generations of Americans have fought and died for the right to vote in free and fair elections.
Today, young people are increasingly frustrated with the hypocrisy of politicians lecturing them about the virtues of voting while in practice facilitating disengagement. The next generation deserves better. So do we.
Neil is a New York City real estate executive. He also writes about politics and has served as a federal elections monitor.