During the Presidential election period in 2016, there was a 68.98 percent voter turnout in North Carolina. However, in 2014, during a non-Presidential election period, commonly referred to as a midterm election period, there was only a 15.79 percent voter turnout. Even though both elections are equally significant to the overall political system, significantly fewer voters end up casting their vote during elections when a president is not involved. A majority of policy making take place in the House of Representatives and the Senate, and by not participating in the midterm elections, voters miss out on the opportunity to have a voice concerning half of the politicians in Congress. Senior Charles Villazor expressed, “It’s important to vote because it gives people a chance to make a difference in their society, something that we don’t have a lot of opportunities for.”

 In addition, nearly half of registered voters aged eighteen to twenty-five did not cast a ballot in the 2016 Presidential elections. This is significant because young adults are often most impacted by these policy changes, with controversial topics involving health care for younger citizens and the high prices of student loans still being debated. But by staying informed and registering to vote as soon as they can, young people have the ability to have a say in these life changing policies.

 The midterm elections this year are predicted to take place on November 6, 2018. All 435  representatives seats, along with one third of the Senate, will be up for reelection in the federal sector. Right now, Republicans control both the House of Representatives, with 240 Republicans out of the 434 representatives, and the Senate, with 51 Republican senators out of 100. However, many members of the Democratic Party predict that the majority party may change.

 Within the state sector, all fifty North Carolina state Senate seats will be up for reelection. At the moment, thirty-four of the fifty seats belong to Republicans, while sixteen out of the fifty seats belong to Democrats. In addition, all 120 seats of the North Carolina state House of Representatives will be up for reelection. At the moment there are seventy-five Republican representatives and forty-five Democratic representatives.

 As the campaigning period of this election is fast approaching, it is important for seniors to begin registering to vote. One way to register is at the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. When you receive your license, you receive the opportunity to register and to declare your political party. You can also register at your state or local election office or at armed service recruitment centers. If you would rather not do it in person, you can print out a National Mail Voter Registration Form on vote.gov and fill it out digitally, or print it out and manually fill it out. For non-native speakers, forms are available in Bengali, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. In addition, voters’ guides are available in Cherokee, Chinese, Dakota, Japanese, Korean, Navajo, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Yupik. Senior Anna Conger, who serves as Vice President of Wake County Teen Democrats, commented, “With midterm elections quickly approaching, Emily Ficker and I wanted to enable the students in our school to exercise their civic duty through pre-registering to vote.” Conger and Ficker are currently allowing students who contact them to preregister by providing applications to students at Millbrook. There is no greater privilege than the ability to vote, as it allows citizens the ability to have a say in the policies that direct their lives and society. So, students, make sure to register to vote, and to stay informed.