Pretty much since the beginning of time, it’s been popular to blame any little problem on the “younger generation,” be it social issues, economic crashes or your local supermarket not having the brand of corn chips you wanted. It’s annoying, it’s disingenuous and ultimately, it is unhelpful in making any sort of change in the world. But as much as I hate to admit it, there are certain things that are undeniably an issue with younger people, and one of those things is voter turnout and civic participation.

A few weekends ago, I took a two-day trip to Olympia to lobby on behalf of bills and policies that directly affect all of our lives as students. This was a free trip within the school week, with food, travel and hotel completely covered, and an amazing opportunity for our voices as students to be heard. Attending Lobby Day was genuinely an amazing experience, and it really put a lot of things into perspective for me. But despite the fact that it was a free trip, there couldn’t have been more than thirty of us in attendance. Part of that may have been due to a lack of advertising, but even then, a solid chunk of the students who signed up didn’t show up. It was disappointing to see how few people were there honestly, and it got me thinking about the relationship with democracy as young people and as college students.

Historically speaking, college students and young people are massive proponents of social change and progression. From attending protests to signing petitions to boycotts, we are out there speaking to the world and demanding they listen, so why is it that when it comes time to vote, people don’t have the time to check boxes and sign a piece of paper? Less than 50% of people in the United States ages 18 to 24 are registered to vote, and of those who are, not all of them bother to vote.

I think that no matter what side of the political spectrum you are on, we can all agree that change is important to any society that wants to grow and develop, and as young people, we are the ones being most affected by the people who we are not voting into office. Decisions that are made now will affect us for the longest, but politicians do not care what we want or what we have to say, because we are not voting. Can you blame them? The walking corpses that run our countries, our states and often even our education boards aren’t going to care about the needs of young people when catering to the wishes of older people and corporations is what gets them elected, and keeps them in power.

It’s honestly just disappointing. In Washington state, there really is no excuse not to vote when we have ballots that come to us straight to our mailboxes. You cannot claim to care about social change and the people around you when you don’t do the absolute bare minimum of participating in our democracy. Look, I get it. Voting for national elections often feels pointless, especially if you’re voting for anyone outside of the two major candidates. Between the two-party system, the electoral college, and the fact that politicians seem to never be able to deliver on their promises, it can feel totally hopeless. Like your vote doesn’t matter.

So vote local. Do you know who your county sheriff is? Do you know the names of the city council members making decisions directly about the place you live, the water you drink and the streets that you walk on? Because most people don’t, and if we want anything to get better, we have to do better; and that starts locally. Change doesn’t happen overnight, and it can be difficult to feel like your vote means anything among the thousands or millions of people voting alongside you. But you know what doesn’t mean anything? Pushing for a cause and having none of its supporters vote for it because they believe it won’t matter. Your votes add up.