Last Tuesday, Angelenos were asked to fulfill their civic duty by going to the polls and casting a vote for tomorrow’s leaders and initiatives. We are the second largest city in the United States, a leader in arts and entertainment and home to several of the world’s top universities. Los Angeles is filled with intelligent and creative individuals from diverse backgrounds.
How can this impressive city be filled with so many politically apathetic people that only 16 percent of registered voters participated in Tuesday’s elections?
Even if mail-in and provisional ballots bring that number closer to 20 percent, as the Los Angeles Times suggests, this would still be an embarrassingly low turnout.
Our forefathers fought to ensure we have the right to express ourselves through the democratic process. As students, we must be passionate about advocating for accessibility and equal opportunity.
Students lead busy lives: We have class, part-time jobs, homework, extracurricular activities and social lives to balance. However, that should not mean we can’t find an hour between the national election in November and the citywide election in March to read about the candidates and set aside a few minutes on election day to voice our vote.
Students should be working harder to educate themselves about issues taking place that could directly impact their future. When did voting stop being viewed as our duty as citizens and start feeling like a chore? Voting is a privilege that people around the world would and have fought to gain and it is our obligation as Americans to cast our ballots.
The reality is that city elections affect our daily lives vastly more than the national election. Everything from repaving Veteran Avenue to making sure we have good jobs here in Los Angeles after graduation results directly from policies put in place by our locally elected officials.
Registered voters seemed unaware of what was truly at stake this week: Los Angeles had the opportunity to elect its first female mayor, elect its first openly gay mayor, raise sales taxes to 9.5 percent and elect an almost entirely new city council.
We had the opportunity to make history in Los Angeles (for better or worse), and we chose to focus elsewhere, leaving only a small portion of the city to make decisions that will impact the city for years.
Why not take five minutes to stop by Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity on Strathmore Avenue to vote, or go to the polling place in Rieber Hall before dinner? Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. to ensure Angelenos have the opportunity to vote at a polling station near them.
As students, we need to take control of our future. We cannot lose the momentum of the historic turnout of young voters in the presidential elections of 2008 and 2012. We must continue being engaged in politics and elect individuals who will truly help change Los Angeles for the better.
Luckily, we have a chance to redeem ourselves. Because very few candidates received a majority of the vote, the election to determine the next leaders of Los Angeles will occur in a runoff on May 21. We should all mark this date in our calendars, check that our voter registration is up to date at our current address, and plan to exercise our right to vote.
We come together, as Bruin Democrats and Bruin Republicans, not to promote our individual party preferences or ideologies, but to ensure students understand the importance of casting their votes and fulfilling their civic duty. We are fortunate to live in a nation where we can freely express our ideas and political preferences without fear of secret police or persecution.
This election will shape the direction of Los Angeles and may alter how we live our lives each day. We ask that students take the time to educate themselves, to become aware of the issues the city faces, to read the platforms and ideas being presented and to vote at their nearest polling location. Democracy is a privilege, and voting is our responsibility.
Friedman is the president of Bruin Democrats and a fourth-year physics student. Ramalho is the chair of Bruin Republicans and a third-year political science and English student.
I think its awesome that democrats and republicans at UCLA can come together and work for the good of LA. Good job!