Chapel Hill elections are tomorrow, and UNC students should do absolutely everything in their power to vote.
Chapel Hill is home during the most formative years in a Tar Heel’s life, and the politics of the town have the capacity to shape the student experience.
There is a feeling that persists among students that we are just visitors in this town; we do our four years and then get out, without leaving a significant impact. This is not true at all. Our collective heelprint can extend further than campus.
Students need to shed this perception that our influence on Chapel Hill is marginal. The town needs the input of students because the University’s impact on the town is immense.
It is imperative that students do their utmost to ensure the prosperity of the town we love like no other is still around for future students. And to do that we have to increase student voter turnout.
We get so enthused to vote during national elections because we truly believe that our vote matters to the state of the nation. That much is even more true for local elections. Local politics effects the lives of Chapel Hill residents so much more than any politician in Raleigh or Washington, D.C.
It isn’t an inconvenience to be involved in the political process; a significant part of being a resident is to be invested in the town’s progress.
When voter ID laws in the state appear to target students, we get up in arms to defend our right to vote, despite the General Assembly’s apparent agenda. But if you don’t exercise your right to vote locally, then what’s the point of protesting in the first place?
If we want to be heard, we have to speak up as close to home as possible, and the local elections are the first place to start. Go vote.
