Will the “millennial” vote matter?

If you are living under the rock, May 2019 marks the upcoming midterm elections. Faces of
politicians left and right flank the streets, to remind you to write their name in the polls. In the
Philippines, election season becomes a festivity of sorts-- deluding the public that the main
purpose of elective officials is to be the frontier of progress through good governance and
lawmaking and not to entertain.

Amidst all the chaos lies the question mark that is waiting to be answered after the votes have
already been finalized. Is there a youth vote or as in common parlance today, does the millennial
voice matter in electing the next set of public officials?

Browsing through your dependable social media sites, surveys from different schools have
already popped up within a month before elections. One might surmise that top vote getters in
these surveys will align with the results of national surveys conducted by established groups.
However upon comparing the two, the stark difference will be noticed. Most of the candidates
whose surnames have already lorded Philippine politics for some time are remarkably absent in
the so-called Magic 12 of surveys conducted in universities and colleges.

Roughly one-third registered voters in the 2019 polls belong to the 18-30 years old bracket.
Accounting this large of a percentage evokes that when empowered, this voting bloc can dictate
the results of elections. In reality, this figure becomes a non-factor.

For purposes of not sounding like a broken record, the right to suffrage does not end after a
person casts his or her vote. Thriving to push for advocacies and programs that will help uplift
the status of the youth is a start. Couple this notion by meticulous voter education assures that the
youth sector is not apathetic to the qualms of our society.

To borrow the words of author Alfie Kohn, the youth should not only be trained to live in a
democracy when they grow up; they should have the chance to live in one today. Mere voting is
not sufficient for the youth to make their stamp in nation-building: actions to elevate the voice
and reason of the youth must be undertaken before it is submerged into oblivion.