Statement
of Stacey Wilson, Drake
University Sophomore
For
More Information, Contact:
Stacey
Wilson, 920-450-4618
It has recently come to my attention that a few politicians
and journalists, such as renowned Register columnist David Yepsen,
believe out of state college students would “taint” the Iowa caucuses if they returned to exercise
their democratic right.
As
a sophomore at Drake University I have been working hard to make Iowa my home. I pay rent, I volunteer at a local school and
I support local businesses. Like it or
not, I am an Iowa
resident. For eight months of the year,
I live in Iowa. I consider this state my home. I can count on one hand the number of times I
have been to my hometown in the past months.
Why should I vote where my parents live instead of where I live?
As
I further my education and learn more abut the importance of politics and
voting, I know that to make a difference it is key for young people such as myself
to vote. Where else would I vote besides
the city I love and have made my own home?
I
am incredibly offended that the state I love would say that because I vacation for
a few weeks in my hometown, that my vote would “taint” the results of the
caucuses. Just because my birthplace
isn’t Iowa
doesn’t mean I don’t know the impact which the caucuses could have on the
nation. I am so excited about the
election that I am working as part of Iowa PIRG’s Rock the Caucus campaign to
mobilize youth voters.
Personally,
I am not only offended by the recent implications that I should not caucus, but
I am outraged. It is my right and
responsibility as a citizen of the United States
and Iowa to
do so.
Students
are an increasingly important part of the electorate. Asking tens of
thousands of us not to vote simply because we may or may not leave the state for three
months of the year is blatant disenfranchisement. Would we ask the same
of a homeowner in Des Moines who vacations in Florida for the winter?
Instead of asking us not to vote, our political
leaders should
be trying to figure out how to engage young people directly in
this upcoming election – by talking to us about the issues we care about, like
global warming and college affordability.
We are the future of this country,
we will be making the big decisions for our country in years to come. Don’t stifle our voices and tell us we are
not welcome in our own state.
As
the
race heats up, cool heads should prevail – let students have their voices heard.
Stacey Wilson,
a sophomore at Drake University, is a student leader with the Iowa Student
Public Interest Research Group’s Rock the Caucus campaign, a non-partisan
effort to mobilize young Iowans around the caucuses.
