To vote or not to vote. Are you registered? Oh, but not in the state of Iowa? You think absentee ballots are inconvenient and too time consuming to complete? No name on the ballot you recognize? Why bother, you ask, when you don’t know or like any of the candidates? The polls don’t stay open long enough once you get off work or out of class? Is the outcome of school board elections really going to drastically change your life if you have no kids in the community public schools? And if a move to another community within the next six months to two years is in the works, why should you care about local government?

Do any of these reasons sound vaguely familiar in explaining voter apathy? Americans claim to treasure freedom and fight to uphold democracy, yet statistics have indicated a steady decline in registered voter participation in national elections.

An Internet search on voter apathy will yield all sorts of college newspapers across the nation with stories proclaiming the same thing. The 18 to 24 age group has been MIA at the polls for the past 30 years. Since 18-year-olds gained the right to vote with the passage of the 26th Amendment in 1971, voter turnout among the nation’s young adults has steadily decreased. Youth voter turnout reached an all-time low in the 1996 presidential elections, according to the Center for Democracy. That year, 32.4 percent of youth voters aged 18 to 24 cast ballots, which is an almost 18 percent drop since 1972.

But is apathy the real issue? Some experts have suggested that it’s a two-way street. Politicians won’t address issues important to students, and therefore, students feel no obligation to vote for government officials.

Some students blame the media for its failure to adequately cover the issues. For example, during the Clinton administration, some college students quickly bored of the media frenzy during the Lewinsky-Clinton affair and were hungry for meaningful news on more important current events. Clinton, however, stands out as the politician who did make an effort to appeal to younger voters by making an appearance on MTV’s “Rock the Vote,” and credit must be given to MTV for broadcasting the program. Yet students have found fault with that, claiming that not everyone in that age group has access to MTV.

Cynicism toward the U.S. government and the Electoral College system has discouraged other students from voting because they are less inclined to believe their vote truly counts. I’m guilty of falling in that category. Representative democracy is by no means a perfect system. That was made painfully obvious during the last presidential “election.” Negative campaigning was also reported as a huge turn-off from the polls.

Students blame the system. The system blames the students. Students blame the media. The mass media … well, they are the target for a lot of criticism, the least of which is voter apathy. How typical of human nature.

Youth Vote Coalition (youthvote.org) is a Web site devoted to encouraging the youth of America — specifically those ages 18 to 24 — to exercise their right to vote. A promising suggestion from The Michigan Daily was published there. “There seems to be a mild resurgence in Washington of support for making national elections a holiday … It would free up space to house polling sites, due to the number of buildings closed that day. Turnout would increase, as workers on their day off would have a hard time justifying not voting. Election Day should be an important day to all U.S. citizens. Indoctrinating Americans with its significance is essential, and one way to do that is to set it apart with holiday status.”

Jane Eisner, columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, began her own crusade which she calls First Vote: “We celebrate what we value. We claim to value citizenship and political participation. But we do virtually nothing to celebrate the entry of young Americans into political maturity. I urge parents, teachers, coaches to create their own “First Vote” ritual for newly minted voters to publicly acknowledge this civic coming of age.”

You think it seems too early to be thinking about local or national elections right now? Hardly. The Ames City Council elections are about a month away, and for those whose excuse is that they aren’t familiar with the issues or candidates, now is the time to learn about them. The Democratic primary elections are quickly approaching as well.

Regardless of your age, income, occupation or educational background, your views about the current political process or your level of interest, it is ultimately your responsibility to educate yourself about issues and be a responsible citizen.